


Three Little Words

by AceandShadow



Series: Hell and Fire [4]
Category: Destiny (Video Games)
Genre: Abduction, Blood, Blood and Injury, Blood and Violence, F/F, Goddamn just kiss and make up, I swear to god this took way too long, Love, Love Confessions, Mild Blood, Reconciliation, She will say it, Trials
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-07
Updated: 2020-04-01
Packaged: 2021-02-27 07:20:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 21
Words: 27,827
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22153150
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AceandShadow/pseuds/AceandShadow
Summary: There are harder words to admit to a loved one than the three they need to hear the most, but for some reason, Kallori just can't quite bring herself to say them.But when Araeya gets captured by the Cabal, they are put to a test of strength, will, and discovery as pasts are revealed, secrets are uncovered and surprises rear their ugly heads in a bid to bring her back in one piece
Relationships: Araeya/Kallori
Series: Hell and Fire [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1587838
Kudos: 13





	1. Small Words

**Author's Note:**

> Irrelevant until later on during the story, but any speech written within << >> indicates speech in another language. In this instance, the language is Ulurant - a dialect spoken in the language of the Cabal (Cabalese? XD)
> 
> I think this is gonna be quite a long one...

She started by saying three little words, but the problem with those three little words is that they may be small, but they hold the biggest meaning and can mean both the best and the worst thing to a Guardian. Time means very little to Guardians – beings who have the power to live forever – so when they make a little commitment to one another, it can shake all kinds of things up – their head, their focus, their priorities. But something that Guardians have little understanding of is the true concept of the word ‘love.’ That’s why, when Araeya said those three words to Kallori, it shook their world.

Araeya and Kallori got together under very strained circumstances. Araeya pursued her love for Kallori endlessly from the day she realised it, whereas Kallori was blind to Araeya’s devotion for so long that it wasn’t until her life was on the line and it was Araeya who came for her that she realised the person she wanted was right in front of her the entire time. They’d been through thick and thin ever since then and they’ve protected each other with their lives. But it was one wet summer’s day where neither of them was called to a mission or in front of the Vanguard for whatever reason – good or bad – and they were walking through the City in the rain that Araeya decided to say it.

Hand in hand, Araeya took a deep breath and leant on Kallori’s shoulder – Kallori was ever so slightly taller than her.

“The City looks much nicer when we aren’t guarding it with our lives,” she said with an attempt at humour. She wasn’t too good at starting conversations. She worked that out when it almost cost her the woman she loved. Araeya couldn’t see it, but Kallori smiled blissfully as she leant back into Araeya.

“It is, isn’t it?” she whispered. She was a woman of few words, but a woman with words that mattered. She had a voice when it was needed.

“Hm,” came the response. Araeya was stumped. She needed to say it, but she wasn’t sure how to. In the end, she dived in the deep end and took Kallori’s other hand and turned her to face her. To her surprise, Kallori leant into her without hesitation and kissed her, letting go of her hands to hold her face, while Araeya’s hands grabbed Kallori’s waist. How she simply loved Kallori. She could never say no to her. Araeya idolised this woman – Kallori was her world and more and she would lose herself if she lost her.

When she got a chance to breathe, she pulled Kallori close so that their foreheads made contact. They stood there in the middle of the road in the rain for what felt like an eternity, all the while Araeya was plucking up the courage to just say it. It wasn’t easy saying three small words when they hold the power to change everything, but Araeya knew in her heart that it was the right thing to do. When Kallori began to pull away, Araeya quickly pulled her back for another kiss before she said anything.

“I love you, Kal,” she finally said, more confidently than she expected.

“What did you say?” Kallori asked having heard Araeya loud and clear.

“I said I love you,” Araeya said with slightly less confidence, backing away a little. Kallori loosened her grip on Araeya’s hand as she contemplated those three little words, her stare sharp against Araeya’s eyes. Neither of them said anything for a long time and Kallori never moved until her grip on Araeya’s hand was gone and it slumped back to her side.

“You can’t say that…” she said finally, trailing off as she failed to find her words.

“But it’s true…” Araeya said, also trailing off. Neither of them stood with enough confidence in themselves to justify either of their views. In the end, Kallori walked off without saying another word, leaving Araeya gawking on her own in the middle of the road in the rain. She hung her head.

Araeya wanted to chase after Kallori to show her that she would never want to let her go, but if she caught up with her, she wouldn’t know what to say. She had nothing left to say and she’d hoped she wouldn’t have to say anything else. Instead, she trundled home on her own.

The bed was empty that night. Kallori never came home and Araeya was restless. She’d never wanted to hold someone so tightly before. She just longed for the warmth of her Warlock’s Awoken body against her own. She didn’t worry about where Kallori was for that woman could hold her own – something that Araeya admired about Kallori since she first laid eyes on her. She knew that wherever she was, she would be okay.


	2. Questions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Araeya reports for duty, but in no fit state to carry out a strike and her day is only made worse when Tyrell, her friend's boyfriend, is on her fireteam and knows all about what happened between her and Kallori. Only, for some reason, he won't stop asking her questions, causing her to take drastic measures to avoid them, getting herself stuck in the meantime - but it is not without discovery

The following day, Araeya reported for strike duty along with her assigned fireteam that seemed to consist of Skivay’s boyfriend, Tyrell – a Human Titan – and another Hunter she was unfamiliar with. Throughout Zavala’s briefing, Araeya wasn’t listening. She was too distracted about mot hearing from Kallori for so long and her reaction to three little words. She still felt Kallori’s stare from the previous day – strong but empty. It stuck a dagger in her mind that she couldn’t get rid of no matter how hard she tried.

“You look tired, Araeya. Are you feeling okay?” Tyrell asked, nudging her.

Mustering an almost convincing smile, Araeya looked at him. “Yeah, just a disturbed night’s sleep,” she lied. It was unconvincing to her, let alone him.

“It’s Kallori, isn’t it?” Tyrell folded his arms. Araeya gawked at him, destroying the foundations of that pathetic lie she’d begun to build. “It’s okay, Araeya. I’m only guessing as she spent the night with us, that’s all…” Araeya lowered her head again. At least Kallori was somewhere safe.

During transit to Nessus for a strike on a Cabal Valus, Tyrell called comms on Araeya, who was flying blind being both tired and distracted.

“She didn’t tell us anything, if that’s what you’re worried about. You know me and Skiv – we’ll let anyone in without questions.”

Araeya sighed. “At least I know she was safe last night.” There was a long pause before anyone spoke again. Araeya was okay with that. She didn’t really want to talk about it anyway.

“Did you two fight?” Tyrell was pushing boundaries he’d have been better staying well away from.

“Not exactly…”

“Then what happened?” Araeya didn’t want to answer, but if she didn’t, Tyrell would be left to his imagination and then who knows what he’d end up telling Skivay and being the caring person she is, Skivay would then take to comforting Kallori who would want to know how she found out. It would all trace back to Araeya, making her look like a gossiping fool and Araeya couldn’t bear to think about what would happen after that. Eventually, she worded it as simply as she could.

“I told her I loved her.”

“You said what now?”

“You heard me,” she didn’t want to repeat it again.

“Oh…” That was all Tyrell could say. That was all he said since. Araeya slumped back in the chair of her ship, A Thousand Wings, and her Ghost, Twink, appeared.

“It’s going to be okay. She just needs time to let the meaning of your words sink in, is all,” he whispered. If Ghosts could smile, Twink would have done. He bumped her shoulder slightly in an attempt to make her feel better, knowing it wouldn’t do a lot. But it didn’t. Instead, he caught sight of Araeya blinking back tears. “As long as you keep your head up, she’ll come around. If you would like, we can push through this strike and spend the afternoon running your meditative routine? You haven’t done it for a few weeks now…” Araeya perked up a little bit.

“I would like that. I need to clear my head.”

“Luckily this strike shouldn’t take long. A Valus doesn’t take long to take down. Do you remember what you need to do?” Araeya paused to think, but not about what she needed to do.

“Yeah.” She responded plainly.

They’d spent over an hour traversing the dig site where the Valus was commanding from before any of the fireteam members had a moment to take a breath. To Araeya’s disappointment, Tyrell had decided to use this time to question her. She switched off while they walked because she couldn’t stand his voice after so long – so many questions with so little to answer with.

“Can I ask, why would you decide to pin Kallori down with such a statement? She isn’t the most sentimental of people, if you haven’t realised. She liked things how they were – she liked _you_ how you were. Why would you then say that to shatter that illusion? She’s far too energetic to be weighed down like this…” Araeya couldn’t stand it any longer. Why did Tyrell think that it was okay to question how she should express herself to the woman she loves? He acted as though he knew her inside out, as if he was her protector, her father, even. She was disgusted. It wasn’t his place to speak about any of this.

In all her thoughts, Araeya had wandered down the wrong tunnel and had become lost. Tyrell and Aris – the other Hunter – called out to her over the comm unit hoping they could guide her back.

“Where do you think you were going?” Aris asked viciously. “Did you even listen to the brief?”

“Do you really want me to answer that?” Araeya responded.

“How did I end up on a fireteam with a pair of absolute dipshits?”

“Hey! You watch it, lady. I’m fireteam leader and I can kick you if I want to, you know.” Tyrell attempted to assert his authority, but only came across as an egotistical child. He turned his attention to Araeya again. “Just keep walking until you can find an exit and then let us know your coordinates. I’m sure we can find a way to reconvene. We can’t do this a man down, Araeya. Keep us in the loop if you find anything,” he assured Araeya.

“I’ll try,” Araeya said quietly, unsure if they even heard her, or if she was even talking to them by this point. “Twink, why didn’t you say anything?” Twink appeared in front of her and if he could scowl, he would have done.

“I shouted so many times, Araeya. I began looking for things to throw at you and I was running out of options. The lights were on, but no-one was in, apparently – I couldn’t get through to you!” Embarrassed, Araeya put her head in her hands.

“Sorry, Ghost. I only wanted to drown out the sound of Tyrell and his questions.”

“You aren’t safe to do this, Araeya. You aren’t focussed-”

“I’m fine, Twink. I need to distract myself and this is one sure-fire way of doing that.”

“Oh, you’re distracted alright. But this Valus has been shaking the Nessus core apart with his digging and mining operation and we need him stopped and if you aren’t focussed, you could get hurt…” he paused, “I mean, more so than you are now – physically!”

“You’re worrying about nothing. I just need to let off some steam.”

“You need sleep, woman. You should not have reported for duty this morning. If I have to pick you up because you died through any root cause leading to exhaustion, I am calling this and bringing you back to the City, because at the rate you’re going, you and I could end up separated. Then what do we do, huh?”

“Can it, Twink. I can’t have you ranting in my ear as well. Just trust me.” With that, an enormous rumble echoed through the cavern and the dirt above them began to crumble and fall. Twink returned to his place behind Araeya as she began to bolt it down the tunnel as quickly as her tired legs would carry her, praying that an end would be near where she could find cover, at least until it had passed.

Eventually, the quake had subsided and Araeya had escaped unscathed and found herself in a much larger cave, deeper underground. She called to comms.

“Is everyone okay?” It was a while before anyone responded, but an unfit sounding Titan tapped into the comms, also.

“Yes,” he said out of breath. “We’re good here. Took a rock to the shoulder, but nothing I can’t shake off and Aris seems okay.”

“Yeah,” Aris agreed, also out of breath. “Did you find a way out?”

Araeya studied her surroundings. “Not exactly. I’ve found a much larger cave network,” she paused, looking closely around the boulders. “It has definitely not been left alone – Cabal gear everywhere.” She turned around to look at where she had just come from. Blocked. “No way back, either,” she said exasperated.

“Keep looking for a way forward but watch your elevation – any deeper and we’ll lose your signal. We won’t be able to help you out.” Aris advised, still annoyed that this had happened. “We’re two clicks from the base but we can’t engage until you’re here. Problem is, the longer we stay hanging around, the higher the chances of discovery and we need to avoid that until we’re ready. This strike cannot go stale.” With that, the comms cut out.

“I think we’re already in too deep,” Araeya said looking around. “The walls are lined with explosives. This wasn’t about shaking the core. They are trying to rid the planetoid completely. Can they do that?” Twink said nothing. Either way, Araeya needed to find a way back towards the surface to rendezvous with the rest of her fireteam and she needed it quickly.


	3. Guardian Down

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After getting herself stuck in a maze of tunnels, Araeya finds her way up towards the surface and breaks the news to her fireteam, but she ends up on the bad end when the information she has differs from what they were given. The surprises don't end there as Araeya is with her back against the wall and the rest of her fireteam escaping with only half an inch of their lives after they run into an operation far bigger than they were expecting

After an hour of climbing seemingly endless tunnels, Araeya’s comm unit crackled into life as Aris was losing her patience.

“Araeya! Where are you?” she shouted.

“Closer to the surface than before, but it’s not good.”

“Oh finally! We’ve been trying to get hold of you for an hour. I began to wonder if we were going to have to engage a man down after all.”

“No. You don’t understand. The entire network deep under the surface – it’s filled with explosives…”

“Did you disarm them?” Aris asked obnoxiously as she folded her arms.

“You aren’t hearing me, are you?”

“Well, for someone who was distracted enough to walk down the wrong tunnel, you sure know what you’re talking about, don’t you? For all I know, you could be seeing things, since you aren’t all that focussed.” Aris’ sarcasm grated against Araeya’s ears and she clenched her jaw and tightened her fists, fighting the urge to smash the unit.

“Hey leave her alone, would you? Cut her some slack – she’s just told her girlfriend she loves her…” Tyrell’s voice trails off as he realises what he’d just said.

“Her girlfriend? You mean the admirable Kallori? She’s a goddess and _you’re_ dating her? Oh, you are so in over your head. Way out of your league and you messed up, probably for the best.” Aris was being pushy and unnecessarily snarky to the point where Araeya cut her comm off completely and made them wait until she got there. It gave her some silence during her ascent to think.

When she came out of the strike, she would seek Kallori out. She would find her and explain everything. She would hold her and never let her go. If that didn’t work, she would pin her down. She would sit on her, legs straddled over her waist, arms around her neck and her body leant into hers. She would simply kiss her until neither of them could breathe. How she longed to feel Kallori’s body pressed into her own. What she would give to feel her warmth, her soft blue skin…she wanted to see that silver glint from her eyes blind her as she stared into them.

Araeya had spent so long thinking about what she was going to do that she had forgotten what she was doing and had wandered straight into the Cabal base that Aris and Tyrell were scouting on the far side. She had dug her way out on the opposite side to where they were hiding, and they saw her enter the base. Tyrell attempted to reconnect comms to warn her of the Valus, but Araeya hadn’t switched hers back on.

“You are going to be the death of us both…” Twink sighed. “We’re leaving. You. Aren’t. Safe.” He asserted.

“No point. We’re here now. Let’s just get this done.”

“That’s the problem – we can’t. Our intel was wrong. The Valus is-” Twink’s words were cut off as a group of Cabal had gathered around them. “…not here…” he finished in whisper.

Araeya quickly counted the Cabal around her and adjusted her aim accordingly as she unleashed Blade Barrage onto them all. Only, she was so tired that she’d begun to lose her focus more so than previously and she had miscounted the Cabal – she had taken them all out…but two and they pounced on her, pinning her to the ground. Tyrell and Aris watched from the opposite side of the base, carefully planning their moves as they saw the Cabal beat Araeya on the floor, holding her arms behind her back and standing on her shoulders.

“We have to do something – anything!” Tyrell shouted. He struggled to keep calm.

“What was she thinking? This strike was doomed from the start and now we have to try and find a way out from this?” Aris was frustrated, but it was just for show. She was worried for Araeya. As much as she found this experience awkward, she knew about Araeya’s past and her encounters with Kells, rogue Guardians, Crota, Oryx, Ghaul…she knew about them all and truth be told, she was jealous. But if Araeya dies on this strike, all Guardians involved are called into question and Aris had a reputation to maintain. Her Ghost tapped into Twink’s feed.

“Twink, can I hear what those Cabal are saying?” she asked quietly.

“I can try, but I’m not sure how long I can hold the link until they detect me in their network. With that, they can back trace me here, are you sure you want to do this?” Twink whispered.

“It’s alright. I’ll tap out before that happens, I just need to hear what’s going on,” she turned to Tyrell. “Tyrell, I need you to be the big-ass Titan you are and stir up as much trouble as you can – I need a distraction. Take down as many Cabal as you can in the meantime, I’m going to try and find out why our intel was off.” Aris’ Ghost began linking with Twink and fed Aris the feed coming from the two Cabal holding Araeya down.

<<How long do we hold her here?>> One asked.

<<Bracus Ma’auor said he was on his way>> The other responded.

<<Good. She’s small but she is very strong. I can feel her strength beneath me>>

Aris could hear Araeya grunting against the Cabal on top of her. She had started shouting in pain, but her Ghost couldn’t do anything without increasing the risk of discovery. Meanwhile, Tyrell had drawn the battalion’s attention to the far side of the base using all his ammo and Light wiping them out. Aris had to be mindful of Tyrell’s situation as well as Twink’s network link.

<<Do you have one?>> Came a voice from another comm about a mile out from the base.

<<Yes, Sir. We have accounted for all three Guardians and we currently have one captive>>

<<Good. I want no witnesses and we need at least one to bring back to Valus Ja’aun->> Aris cut the link there and then and called Tyrell back.

“Tyrell! We need to leave! Now! This is an assassination!”

“What about Araeya?!” Tyrell asked as he fought the Cabal surrounding him.

“We don’t have a choice. We must leave. Call it in with Zavala now. If we don’t leave now, we die and Araeya is left to them. Calling it in will mean we have a chance to get her back again.”

Tyrell tuned into the emergency broadcast channel and called an SOS;

“Vanguard access code 0306. We are in need of assistance. Our strike has gone south. We believe to be the target of an assassination on 7066 Nessus. We are three souls – one Titan and two Hunters. One Hunter designated ‘Araeya,’ has been captured. Requesting secure extraction immediately.”

“Understood,” came the immediate reply from Zavala with a sense of frustration and disappointment. But he said no more on the matter. No alternative action plan, no further comments on the matter, nothing. This made Aris wonder what Zavala was thinking. It made her wonder if there was anything they could do at all, or if this was it – this was the last they’d see of Araeya. If Zavala knew more than he was letting on.

Tyrell stole one last look at Araeya as she grew weak under the pressure of the Cabal holding her down. He could hear her faint grunts as she attempted to fight back against their weight, and he fought back the urge to run to her until he saw the sight that was the Bracus who had come for her.

“Aris…” he whispered. Aris turned to look at where he pointed. She gawked at the size of him.

“That must be Bracus Ma’auor…the Bracus who works for Valus Ja’aun…”

“Fireteam! Rendezvous with the beacon immediately!” Zavala shouted over the comm unit. The two Guardians bolted through the tunnel network and to the rendezvous beacon, but it was not without looking back as the Cabal bound Araeya and hauled her over their shoulders and carried her to their ship, tired and weak. Tyrell decided that it would be him that sought out Kallori back at the Tower.


	4. Problem

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zavala wants to know how a Guardian got themselves captured by the Cabal and calls a meeting to see who knows what. Kallori gets called out and her back is immediately up until Aunor breaks the news and comes to the conclusion that they may not be able to get her back. The Vanguard are in the hotseat as their information is questioned and Aris might have a solution to turn the situation around

Zavala held a consensus meeting later that evening to discuss what went down, along with Ikora Rey, Cayde-6, Aunor Mahal and Master Rahool. Tyrell was temporarily absent as he went to find Kallori to bring her to the meeting and Aris was on edge, eyeing Zavala very carefully.

“Aris…” Zavala began, “what happened? Araeya is our best Guardian and she would never allow herself to get in such a position.”

Aris rolled her eyes. “That’s a question you’re better off asking when Tyrell gets here with Kallori. I have a question in return, though, Zavala; what happened to the intel? Did you ever intend to tell us that the Valus was never at the base?” Aris’ gaze never left Zavala and he squirmed slightly under her pressure. He sat back in his chair.

“We can only relay to you what we know. As far as we were aware, the Valus was indeed in that base. We had no reason to believe otherwise and we monitored the area the entire strike. No changes were made to your plans because we saw no need for it. The situation only changed when you allowed the strike to go south and watch Araeya – our _best_ Guardian – get captured. That is why I ask you; what happened?”

Aris took a deep breath before she answered. “Araeya was…distracted…” she said eventually although she was a bit unconfident.

“Distracted?” Zavala questioned.

“Something to do with Kallori, I think? I don’t know the ins and outs because it wasn’t my business, but Tyrell knows.”

Zavala sighed. “I knew that Warlock was trouble.” He leant into Aunor, eyeing Cayde next to her. “Now if a certain someone hadn’t have caused so much trouble, I’d like to bet this wouldn’t have happened…” he whispered. Cayde’s eyes brightened.

“Bet, you say?” he smirked.

“Not now, Cayde,” Aunor waved him off as he sat back in his seat. “I doubt there would be much we could change, Zavala. Those two are inseparable and Araeya is good for Kallori. She makes her see sense. However this happened, there must be a way to reverse it. We need to know where they took her and start from there.” Aunor asserted quietly. Their thoughts were disturbed by Tyrell walking in, Kallori in tow. She made eye contact with Zavala and her stare immediately hardened into a hostile dagger, making Zavala nervous.

“What’s this about, Zavala? What have I done now?” Kallori’s guard was up high.

“You haven’t done anything,” Zavala said calmly. He paused and inhaled deeply. “It’s Araeya…” he trailed off as he saw Kallori drop her guard like a stone.

“…what’s happened…?” she asked tentatively.

Aunor stepped in. She had a bit more sensitivity than Zavala. “Um, a strike that we sent her on this morning went south. She didn’t come back. Kallori, she was captured by Bracus Ma’auor and Valus Ja’aun.” Aunor looked carefully at Kallori as she sat down, Tyrell’s hand on her shoulder.

Zavala didn’t waste any time continuing. “Aris mentioned you and she had something going on that potentially distracted her?” Kallori’s head shot up and her stare pinched Zavala’s eyeline.

“You just can’t wait to throw me in the doghouse, can you Zavala?”

Zavala shook his head as he spoke. “No, Kallori, I just need to know how one of our best Guardians managed to get so distracted as to walk into the firing line and get subdued so easily.” Kallori dropped her head again and it was a long time before she said anything. Aris interrupted.

“You seem to forget, also, Zavala, that your intel was inaccurate and so we weren’t left with any wiggle room. The Valus was _not_ in the base so we couldn’t take him out as instructed and there were a few more than a mere 150 Cabal soldiers. Try a whole battalion of them, all of which swamped Tyrell as he tried to lay waste to a few in the hope of opening a window to rescue Araeya. It would have worked, but it seems you left out a small detail about, I don’t know, maybe a Bracus as well?” Aris was nasty with her words, using sarcasm to her advantage. Kallori had found her words once Aris had finished.

“She said a couple of things to me yesterday and I may have overreacted. I just walked away from her without saying a word. I didn’t go home last night and slept on Tyrell’s and Skivay’s sofa and then I didn’t find her before she reported for duty.”

“She was exhausted, Zavala. You could see it before we’d even left. Her head wasn’t in the game.” Tyrell added. Zavala held his head in his hands.

“So, can I summarise?” asked Cayde, but he didn’t wait for a response before he continued. “My Hunter said something to her Warlock girlfriend, probably poured her little heart out – as I have seen her do before, which is lovely and all – and Kallori just walked away without any hints as to how she felt, so I’m guessing Araeya spent the night alone, possibly sleepless, then spent the morning worried sick, Tyrell and Aris wouldn’t shut up, she got too distracted trying to drown it all out, but is also exhausted and she walks openly into the firing line – didn’t go down without a fight, I’m sure – and ended up in a checkmate situation where the intel was wrong, the strike went south and Tyrell and Aris bailed, believing that if they can make it out, they can help the effort to get her back. How far off am I?” he folded his arms. Kallori, Aris and Tyrell all nodded in sync. Rahool took note of the entire summary.

“There is one small problem…” Zavala said, solemnly. “We didn’t know about the Bracus, but we assigned the three of you to this strike because your individual skills combined would have been enough to take down the Valus as instructed…” he acted as though he wanted to explain more, but failed to speak. Ikora stood in.

“Valus Ja’aun has been a problem since the Taken War, but he has escaped our grasp time and time again. He is the most dangerous Valus we have ever come across and we had finally received intel on his whereabouts and his plans after my Hidden operatives that were deemed MIA sent us info. But it would seem that Valus Ja’aun is clearly more technologically inclined than we are since we monitored that interception room for hours before your arrival. We realise now that we should have alerted you to the extent of the problem and we should have checked you were all at your best before sending you in, but we were too keen to act on what we knew. At the time, we counted 150 Cabal soldiers and the Valus within the base – a figure that never moved. To hear that he wasn’t in there and there were twice the soldiers caused us quite the confusion. This was a planned passive attack. Araeya may not have been a direct target, but she was an easy picking at the time, and they exploited it. I can’t begin to imagine what they’ll do to her and why…”

“So, we get her back! We find out where they’re holding her and break her out!” Kallori perked up. “Cayde and Araeya did it for me, we can do it again for her!” Cayde nodded his head. The was a small pause in the room as Kallori looked around. “We have to! You don’t understand – everything she’s been through…it’s the same thing every time. Remember Draksis?” Zavala didn’t answer. No-one did.

“No, you won’t because you didn’t care about her then. He tortured her. Once she’d returned in one piece you swept it under the carpet. Not your problem. What about what Mara did to us all?” she looked at Zavala dead in the eyes. Cayde raised his hand.

“I like to think we handled that pretty well…” he said, lacking confidence.

“One slight problem,” Aris said, “they knew where you were likely to be. We haven’t got a clue where they would be keeping her, nor do we know where to start…” Everyone looked at each other around the room as Kallori stood staring into space, attempting to hide her emotions. She would never show her tears in front of the Vanguard. Not anymore.

“But you never since checked to see if she was okay? How about when you sent her after Draksis the second time – the time she finished him off? Or Skolas who could have quite as easily done the same thing? Crota? Oryx? Ghaul? You keep sending her on these missions and now this has happened. How much more can she take before she simply can’t anymore? I can’t let that happen. I won’t. and it starts with you…” she pointed at all three members of the Vanguard before sitting down again.

Aunor sighed. She figured she needed to break the silence somehow by suggesting a start point – to change the subject more than anything.

“Do we know what happened to her Ghost?” She asked.

“I used him to tap into the Cabal network because he was hiding on her body while the soldiers were talking to each other. It’s how I found out about the Bracus and how he worked for the Valus.” Aris jumped.

“So, you used a Ghost link?” Ikora asked.

“Yeah. My Ghost with hers.”

“So, the feed was active?” Zavala chipped in.

“Until I severed it before her Ghost was discovered, yeah.” Cayde stroked his chin as Aris explained.

“The Cabal didn’t take her Ghost?” he asked.

“Not while they had her pinned down, no. I don’t know if they separated the two of them once they were on the ship…”

“Even if they did, the Ghost would have still been on the same craft – his signal would still resemble the whereabouts of them both. Do you still have the frequency that her Ghost was using?” Zavala believed they were onto something.

“Her Ghost was the last thing my Ghost linked to, so there’s no reason why I wouldn’t.”

“Then there is still hope. If we can get a signal, we must act upon it also taking into account that the Cabal have most probably found and separated the Ghost from her also remembering that they may have messed with the signal output, based on what they have done already-” Ikora was cut off as Kallori stood up and interrupted.

“We have to take every opportunity that presents itself. I won’t leave a single stone unturned until I am holding Araeya in my damn arms where I won’t ever let her go again!” Kallori asserted her authority and eyed Zavala very carefully. Cayde stood up and cheered. He didn’t care that everyone looked at him. He went to a lot of effort to get Kallori back for Araeya, the least that could be done was that they could at least go a full year of missions without one of them going missing.

“It’s settled then. Assemble a raid team, Kallori. You are fireteam leader. You will report to me the second we call you forward once we have a signal.”


	5. Hidden on the Other End

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aris works to locate Araeya while Kallori sits with her team awaiting the go-ahead to put her plan to action. Meanwhile, Twink has remained hidden on Araeya's body throughout the whole journey and attempts to help her get out of her situation, but it leads to his discovery, putting Araeya in a tense spot as she stepped up to the Valus - however; she was not backing down without a fight

It was a tense wait while Aris worked with Ikora and Zavala to triangulate Twink’s frequency. Kallori had assembled her raid team and sat in the Hangar while Aris was in the consensus room. She had enlisted the help of her three Titan friends;

Tamitt, Awoken Titan. He was Kallori’s best friend and her go-to for advice. She only wished she listened to him when it mattered most.

Yarus, Human Titan. He was the strongest of her friends. He was always the one to go to when they needed an enemy clear out.

Rexus-5, Exo Titan. He was the typical Titan build with the typical Titan brain, but he had the brawl that they needed to do a lot of damage to a lot of enemies.

There was one other Titan that Kallori enlisted the help of in her raid team – Skivay. Skivay was Kallori’s and Araeya’s oldest friend and she was always there when they needed her most, and this situation called for her help.

Tyrell and Cayde also sat in the Hangar with them while they waited for Aris to come back.

“Whatever happens, Cayde and I will be on the other side of the comms the whole time. We’ll guide you where we can,” Tyrell added in the hope of reassuring the team as they sat together, arms folded, exchanging looks at one another. Cayde looked at Tyrell. For an Exo who can’t show too many facial expressions, Cayde’s made Tyrell very nervous.

“Well, we’ll try,” Cayde added. Hours had passed and none of the fireteam members said much as they waited with anticipation for news from Aris that they had located Araeya’s location.

Meanwhile, elsewhere in the system, Araeya was being taken to the Valus aboard a Cabal Carrier. Twink had remained hidden on her body all the while she was being held. The Cabal hadn’t noticed him on her yet. Her hands were tied behind her back and she wore a suppression collar around her neck, blocking her access to the Light. She walked just a few feet in front of a line of five Cabal soldiers as they escorted her to Valus Ja’aun, Bracus Ma’auor in front. Twink shuffled under Araeya’s armour and let out a pulse to remind her that he was there, before he spoke softly.

“I’ll translate their speech for you so that you can understand. But you cannot give any hints to my presence – I’ll assume you heard me,” he said quietly. Araeya acknowledged what Twink was trying to do and carried on walking. She was still tired and weak and, every so often, she would stumble and sometimes fall, and the Cabal were not nice in making her get up. They would grab her and push her forward, and if she did not pick up speed when they wanted her to, they would activate a shock in the suppression collar – a shock so powerful, it would nearly kill her. They knew it wouldn’t, but it was enough to get her to push herself so that she wouldn’t suffer it again.

Twink activated a network link to the Cabal and translated their speech for Araeya.

<<Why do you think the Valus sent the Bracus for a captive?>> One of the soldiers asked.

<<I don’t know, and I don’t very much care. I just really want to see this Guardian get what’s coming to them, although he was very specific with his order – he just wants a Guardian. We got one. The rest is up to him.>> Another replied.

<<I’ve dealt with enough Guardians in my life to know what a good one looks like and I think we’ve struck gold, here. I’ve heard stories about this one. She’s survived a lot. I bet she’s got a lot to spill…>>

<<Oh, this is the one that dealt with the Eliksni Kell?>>

<<Not just that. Ghaul himself, as well…>>

If Araeya had the energy, she would look at them and smirk, but she knew better than to press the enemy in her state.

<<So, the Valus shall be pleased then?>>

<<If he’s not, it means he has a different game in mind, in which I shall stick around to find out what it is.>>

<<Either way, I hope she gets what she deserves.>> The five soldiers guffawed as they looked at Araeya. She turned to look back at them as they laughed at her. Twink pulsated under her armour to get her to turn back around. The Bracus had stopped a couple of feet in front of them all and turned to face the soldiers.

<<You need to focus on the captive. You are right – she is a very special specimen to bring forth to the Valus, but be not mistaken, I doubt she will be conserved for long for someone of her stature will be sought after by not just her fellow Lightbearers, but the other species of the system. Someone this powerful must be treated with the respect they deserve…>> The Bracus lowered his head to match Araeya’s gaze as he allowed himself a snide smile at her, making her uneasy. He turned to continue walking up the stairs to Valus Ja’aun’s observatory. Twink severed the comm network suddenly.

“I picked up another network. They’ve been tracking me. They know I’m here, Araeya. It’s over. I’m sorry…” Twink whispered to her quietly. She felt his sorrow next to her body as one of the Cabal soldiers grabbed her shoulder to turn her around. He held his hand out.

“Ghost,” he demanded, “we know it’s there. Hand it over.”

Araeya sighed. “Get out, Twink,” she whispered, “I’ll be fine…” her voice trailed off as Twink materialised in the Legionary’s hand. He placed Twink into an anti-transmat cage and handed him over to a Colossus who then walked off in the opposite direction. Araeya watched longingly as he trundled off, swinging the cage as he went. She really was truly alone, now. There was nothing that could be done. Even if the team back at home could triangulate Twink’s signal, they would only find Twink and he wouldn’t know where she was. She thought that, in the time it would take them to search the base, anything could have happened to her. Anything could happen to her even before they found Twink.

To frighten her out of her thoughts, the Legionaries behind Araeya poked her hard with their guns to push her forward, forcing her to continue to follow the Bracus.

“I bet you feel weak, now, don’t you?” The Bracus teased as he continued walking. “No Light to save you…” he turned to look at Araeya. He smiled from underneath his helmet. “Not such a powerful being. Ghaul was right – you have merely forgotten the fear of death. Well, not here you won’t.”

Araeya did not allow her face to show her true fear. She was strong and willing, but she never showed her fear when she felt it.

“No,” she said, strong and firm. The Bracus stopped in his tracks. He paused before he slowly turned to face Araeya. The Legionaries took a step back.

“No?” he questioned, stepping slowly towards her, each step a large stride. He looked her up and down as she stood unafraid, staring at him. “You will…very soon…” he added as he leant into her face, his breath pungent as he smirked. Still, Araeya didn’t move, but she couldn’t help but fear what would happen to her on the other side of the door to the Valus.


	6. Going in Blind

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aris has a lock on Twink's signal and assembles the team into their ships - they don't have too much time - but they argue on their way to the Cabal base, worried they don't have a plan in place and that they are at a disadvantage. Kallori doesn't say a word until she's had enough of the disagreements.

Aris burst through the doors of the consensus room and ran through to the Hangar and the whole team stood up in shock.

“Ships! Now! We haven’t got long! Tail me, I’ll explain on the way,” she shouted as she ran past them all and mounted her ship. Everyone followed, leaving Cayde and Tyrell stunned at what happened.

Ikora and Aunor tailed Aris as they walked into the Hangar and Cayde turned to them. “What on gods earth has just happened?” he asked. Ikora looked at the floor before she answered.

“We found her Ghost. It had activated a link into the Cabal network in a cloaked base a few hundred miles out from the Reef – an abnormally large asteroid. The link was severed a matter of moments after it was activated…” she said, not looking up. Tyrell turned around.

“What are you saying, exactly?”

“The link was severed by an external source. We ran a test on the source – it resembles the same signal as our Praxic Bands. The Ghost has been captured and most likely separated from the Guardian…” Aunor added, softly. Cayde tapped his foot.

“Not much time, then…” He would never admit it, but he worried about Araeya. He had seen her, from her first days as a Kinderguardian, grow into the powerful Guardian she was today, and he envied her strength – she didn’t have to hide behind fake bravado to appear strong. She just was, and how he hoped they would find her and bring her home. Who else would listen to his jokes?

“We took what scans we could of the area, but most of it was well hidden. The areas we could scan…” Ikora paused and looked Cayde and Tyrell in the eyes, “they were crawling…”

Tyrell showed his fear as his girlfriend was heading into that very base. “Godspeed, guys,” he whispered to himself.

“Why the rush? I didn’t get time to eat before we left...” Rexus said, rubbing his tummy. His Ghost rolled his eye.

“We don’t have a lot of time.” Aris said, her hands firmly on the controls of her ship and her eyes dead straight.

“You’re worrying me, Aris, what’s going on?” Skivay tried to keep her mind open.

“Long story short, Araeya’s Ghost took a second Cabal link, pinging his location, but the link was severed quite suddenly. We think they’ve been separated and that puts us on a tighter time limit.” Aris sat firmly.

Kallori never said anything for the duration of their flight but she heard every word that was said. Araeya’s words whirled around her head like a hurricane.

_I love you, Kal_

_I love you…_ Those three little words were so strong. She never anticipated them to take such a grip on her. She never expected them to be said to her, and to her only. She’d heard them said amongst friends. In fact, Skivay would often say them to both her and Araeya, but it never meant half as much as they did the previous day. Her head fell as she realised how Araeya had gotten herself captured in the first place. There was only one thing on her mind – Kallori. Kallori felt guilty. She had allowed Araeya to lose her focus. She had allowed Araeya to report for duty alone. She had allowed Araeya to go on a strike without her head on straight. That was something she promised since the day that they confessed to each other their emotions and how stupid she felt that she’d let that fall under her watch. She promised Araeya she’d never let her go – at least not without a fight, and it would have to be a big one. She was determined that today would not be the day.

She lifted her head and pulled on the throttle of her ship, pulling up closer to the rest of the team. “I have a plan,” she began, more determined than ever.

“But we don’t know the base. We can’t judge yet-” Aris was interrupted by Kallori.

“We’ll have to judge on the job, we don’t have that kind of time. Tamitt, Skivay and Aris; the three of you will follow the Ghost trail. You will have the easier job since you have something to go on. If I know Cabal, and I do, they will have locked him away in a completely opposite end to where they will be keeping Araeya – they don’t trust the Light and they’ll take every precaution to keep Guardians from staying connected to it. You three will be helping the rest of us find Araeya. The chances are that you’ll find Twink before we find Araeya, but that’s okay. Me, Rexus and Yarus will go in a different direction but you will be giving us a starting point,” Skivay nodded her head in agreement and Tamitt was sure of Kallori’s plan. They trusted her with their lives. Kallori continued.

“Aris, we’re going to be relying on your Ghost link to find Twink because she was the last to connect with him, so it’s up to you to keep your back covered and your head on straight.”

“No problem,” Aris replied, somewhat calm.

Kallori lowered her voice. “Rexus, you’re on my team because you need to stay focussed and I am going to help you, but you need to help me in return…”

“Uh…sure?” Rexus was confused.

“You’re going to be my cannon fodder,” Kallori said smirking. “I need you to perform your best hide and seek tricks – Cayde has told me all about them.” Rexus’ smile was as big as an Exo’s smile could get as he beamed with pride – he was a simple Titan. Kallori didn’t need a response – she knew what he was thinking.

“What about you, Kallori? How are you going to watch your back?” Skivay asked, concerned for her friend.

“I don’t need to. My eyes stay forward until Araeya is home in one piece – even if I’m not.”

“I got you,” Yarus added.

Upon arriving at the asteroid, one thing was very clear; for a team that didn’t have a lot of time, they had a lot of ground to cover.

“No wonder the Vanguard could never track him…that is an enormous craft to cloak – and this far out…” Skivay pointed out as they transmatted onto the landing decks. They were unmanned, but they were not without defences.

“Looks like we’re going in blind,” Aris said, studying the map that her Ghost had pulled up in front of her – there wasn’t a lot to it. “We have to report to each other anything that happens; enemy numbers, encounters, locks – everything.”

“I think we have to make a decision right here, right now,” Tamitt said, firmly. Everyone turned to look at him. “Araeya _and_ the Valus, or just Araeya?” He made a good point. They were there to rescue a Guardian, but they had the chance to take down one of the biggest threats to their existence they had ever seen – one that had escaped so many times before.

No one said anything for a moment. No one was sure. Eventually, Skivay made the call.

“We are here to get our friend back. Make it a priority. Anything else and we cross that bridge when we get to it, understand? No rash decisions, no actions made unless decided by everyone – we are a team and we must use that to our advantage.” Skivay’s voice never trembled and she never backed down even slightly in her confidence. Everyone agreed and Aris took her team in the direction of Twink’s last signal, while Kallori took her team in the opposite direction, going in completely blind.


	7. Deja Vu

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Araeya tries to play it cool in the presence of the Bracus, but he tests her will by trying to scare her. It doesn't work as well as he'd hoped - she happens to have been through it already. She expects the same thing from the Valus, however he has other ideas

Araeya stood next to Bracus Ma’auor in front of the door to Valus Ja’aun’s observatory. She remained completely calm and composed while they awaited the signal for them to enter. She had never seen the Valus before and she trembled at the thought of what he wanted her for.

Her mind thought back to that cold dark room in the basement of the Winter Lair, Draksis in her face demanding answers she didn’t have and what he did to her – the knives, the gun, his claws…she couldn’t go through that again. After Ghaul threw her off his ship when she first encountered him, she was glad it was quick. She remembered what it was like to look up to a being of power, helpless to fight and it was enough for her to give up. But she didn’t, and she was determined not to, here.

The door swung open and the Bracus pushed Araeya inside and she fell to her knees in front of a giant chair. She looked up and saw Valus Ja’aun stare at her, smiling, before he turned to Bracus Ma’auor and gave him a curt nod.

<<You have done well, dear Ma’auor. I am proud to have you on my side>> Ja’aun said as he shifted his position to lean forward.

<<Your honour, you asked for any Guardian, but by chance, I have brought before you not just any Guardian>> Ja’aun leant forward more and placed his hand on his chin as Ma’auor continued. <<This is the Guardian that everyone talks about – the Eliksni-slayer, Conqueror of the Taken King, Hive Destroyer…>> he turned to face Araeya and narrowed his eyes. <<The one who killed the Dominus himself>>

Valus Ja’aun studied Araeya as she looked into his beady eyes. He was less than impressed by her presence, but he was glad she was in his grasp.

<<I must say, I expected more. She is so small, so weedy. How could this one have killed the Dominus? Do you lie to me, Bracus?>>

<<Of course not, sir!>> Ma’auor stood back, shocked at the accusation. Ja’aun tested his theory.

“Little Guardian were you the one they claim conquered the Dominus and destroyed the Almighty?” he asked so that Araeya could understand. She looked him up and down.

“You doubt my ability?” she asked in response. The Valus laughed a hearty laugh.

“Feisty one,” he turned to Bracus Ma’auor, <<you may leave us for now. I shall summon you when I am ready>> and Ma’auor bowed and left, but not without whispering to Araeya first. He grabbed her bound hands and pulled her in close.

“You are not worthy of what the Valus shall do to you. But when he is done with you, you will beg for him to finish you.” This made Araeya nervous.

“Ha! Now that he is out of your way, I ask; what does one call a small Guardian like yourself?” Ja’aun asked as he got out of his chair.

“Araeya,” she responded. Like Deja Vu, she trembled at the thought that she had been in this position before.

“Hm. In case you were unsure, they call me Valus Ja’aun. But you don’t get to call me anything.” The Valus smiled as he walked towards Araeya. He walked around her, eyeing her carefully and wondering how he came to be in the presence of the Guardian who conquers.

“What do you want me for? Did word get around that I do scout reports on enemy numbers and hideouts? Because I haven’t done one of those for several decades so I can’t give you much information,” she said, sarcastically. The Valus laughed once more.

“Information?! My dear Guardian, you have me all wrong!” He lowered his tone to become more serious, “I know everything in this system, despite what Calus will tell you, so your information is ultimately useless to me. No, what I want from you…is you.” This confused Araeya, and Ja’aun could see it.

“Allow me to explain in a way that you Guardians can understand; I know everything in this system, _except_ how dangerous a Guardian can truly be. I sent my teams out to bait a few of you, trap you in a cavern and take whoever still lived, only you made it a little bit easier, it seemed. I needed a subject for some experiments. You will do just fine…” he said as he smirked.

“Doesn’t my track history give you an idea?” Araeya asked.

“The Light denies you the fear of death – it does not give you the courage to push forward. No. What I want to do is test _you_. Then I will be able to make the appropriate arrangements to suit it. I must thank my Bracus. He has done well to score such a strong Guardian. You will be tested most profusely.”

For the first time since her abduction, Araeya allowed herself to show fear in her eyes as the Valus looked into them – something she had learnt not to do ever since Draksis had a hold on her using her fearsome eyes against her. Like prey hiding from a predator, she took every precaution up to this point to hide her fear, but knowing that she was alone with the Valus and his intentions was enough to stop thinking about what _not_ to do and to start panicking about what she _needs_ to do – stay alive. Her main question at this point wasn’t necessarily _if_ she would live, but more _how_ she would live and, at the end of it, if she _wanted_ to live.


	8. Not Enough Answers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kallori and the team have split in an attempt to find Araeya and her Ghost, but encounter one or two problems in the meantime. Araeya has been locked up in a holding cell, guarded by a Legionary who is testing her in his curiosity and constantly asking her questions that she can't find the answers for. Eventually, when she is called for by the Valus, she turns the tables and tests the Legionary.

On the other side of the base, Aris, Skivay and Tamitt had been following Aris’ Ghost’s map to Twink’s last known location for over an hour, but he still seemed so far away. Skivay allowed her Ghost to materialise in front of her.

“Cynder, I need a scan of the hallway,” she commanded to him.

“Excuse me, Ms Skivay, but how would that help our situation?” Cynder questioned, bobbing up and down in front of her as she walked.

“I just need to know if there are any hidden threats or doors or even some dampening tech that’s interfering with our map…” Skivay looked away as she spoke and Tamitt made eye contact with Cynder. He nodded at him and Cynder looked over to Aris’ Ghost as she held the map out. He studied it and then studied the Guardians as they looked weary with confusion.

“Alright,” he finally said and raised himself up to the ceiling and began scanning the hallway around them and the hallways in front of them. He was up there a while and so Tamitt attempted to strike a conversation in the meantime.

He looked at Skivay closely and recognised her fears.

“We’ll find them,” he said calmly as he placed his hand on her shoulder. He knew she wasn’t one to worry so much and she always looked on the bright side of every situation, but today was oddly different.

“I’m confident we will…” she paused and looked Tamitt straight in the eyes before she continued, “but in what state?” Her voice broke. Tamitt was so stunned by her question that he didn’t know how to respond. He let go of her shoulder and instead walked in silence next to her.

Eventually he spoke. “You know more than you let on…” he said. Skivay looked at him, confused.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Araeya never talks about what happened to her on Venus that day, just that she got the revenge she wanted. How do you know about it?”

“I don’t know as much as Kallori does – and rightfully so. It isn’t my place. I just know it is enough to either drive her to do unspeakable things or stop in her tracks completely. The only mental torture I’ve first-hand seen her suffer was when you were there, too – all that stuff with Mara. That was enough to make me understand that she simply shouldn’t have to go through any more and here we stand, looking for her Ghost in the hope we can pair them up before it’s too late for her. I just hate what’s happened to her and what continues to happen to her.”

Tamitt was stunned by her response. She’d put him in his place – he didn’t have the right to know what happened to Araeya on Venus that day. But Skivay made a point – they had no idea what state they’d find her in. They just knew they had to find her, whatever it took.

Cynder interrupted.

“Scan complete,” he said as he returned to Skivay’s hand, “there is a battalion of Cabal Legionaries and Phalanxes commanded by a Centurion guarded by 3 Colossuses in the room directly ahead. But I picked up an energy anomaly in a secret room just to the south of the guard room. How does it compare to the map?” Skivay looked over at Aris.

“The last known signal was located not too far in front of us, but he could have moved since then, so I’m open to all possibilities, here.” Aris said as she allowed her Ghost to hide before they developed a plan to get through the battalion without being spotted. Getting through in one piece and without alerting any soldiers was paramount to any form of survival.

<<You don’t deserve to be in the presence of the Valus>>

Araeya rolled her eyes once more as the Legionary guarding her containment cell continued to repeat the same thing, but in a way that she couldn’t understand.

<<You don’t deserve to be in the presence of the Valus>> The Legionary sounded monotone as he repeated himself yet again. He moved a little closer to the bars and said it again. <<You don’t deserve to be in the presence of the Valus>>

She counted the endless moments that hung in the air as she stared at her surroundings. How hopeless she felt. But, if there was something she could feel, it was the pounding of her heart in her chest and the feeling of air in her lungs and that reminded her that, for as long as she felt that, she would fight – even if it took her to her last breath.

This time, when Araeya rolled her eyes, she stood up and stormed to the bars, despite her restraints not allowing her to go that far. She fought them as she neared the Legionary.

“What?! What are you saying?! What do you keep saying to me?” she said, angry.

<<You don’t deserve to be in the presence of the Valus>> the Legionary said once more. Araeya couldn’t take it anymore and she threw herself to the ground, her voice breaking in anger.

“I can’t understand you!” She looked at the ground as she sat slumped against the bars. The Legionary knelt on the other side and leant slightly into her ear.

“You…don’t…deserve…to be…in the…presence…of…the Valus…” he whispered; his English slightly broken.

Once more, Araeya rolled her eyes in frustration. “Apparently…” she said through an exasperated sigh. She looked at the shackles that chained her to the middle of the floor. She looked at the clamps around her wrists. She looked at the cell – how dim it was. There was no lighting but the light that shone through the window of the door to the cell block. She sat in complete silence except for her thoughts. How alone was she, really? Did Cayde send a team for her as they did for Kallori? Did Zavala _let_ him? If he did, how close were they? Did they know anything about where she was? Would they give up? Too many questions, so few answers…so little time.

Her thoughts were interrupted.

“How…how did you do…it?” the Legionary asked. Araeya turned her head so that he was out the corner of her eye. “How…did you kill…him? Conquer the Dominus?”

Araeya scoffed. How was she supposed to answer that?

“He could have…been a…a god…” the Legionary continued, “he was…going to lead us…to a better…future…and you…you denied us that…”

She shook her head. Nothing she could say would help her situation or prove to the Legionary that it was in the Guardians’ best interest to remove him from the equation. She’d be backed into a corner before she’d even finish.

“I had to…” she said finally, “He was going to kill us. Why do we deserve the right to survival less than you?”

“No…not why…how?” the Legionary said, standing up and looking down on Araeya. “You do not look…strong enough…powerful enough…worthy enough…”

If the first response wasn’t enough, then Araeya was stumped. She had no idea what to say to the Legionary after that.

“I don’t…know…” she said quietly. Backed into a corner – exactly as she thought. She sighed in a huff. If she could, she would have folded her arms.

The Legionary’s comms crackled – the Bracus had called for her.

<<The Valus demands the Guardian’s presence in the courtyard>>

<<Confirmed, sir. In what condition?>>

<<Restrained, but unharmed. The Valus has other plans>> and Bracus Ma’auor let out a low chuckle and Araeya felt it through her chest – but then she wasn’t sure if that was Ma’auor’s laugh, or her fear swallowing her up whole.

The Legionary opened the cell door, wandered over to the middle of the cell and released the chains holding Araeya to the floor, keeping her wrists clamped together in front of her. She stood up and stared at the rifle the Legionary was holding at her body.

“Valus…needs you,” he said slowly, and he turned Araeya around and pushed her out of the door, heading towards the lift to the courtyard.

It wasn’t a long walk to the lift, but the Legionary grunting as he walked began to grate on Araeya’s nerves, making the walk drag unnecessarily. She turned to face him on several occasions, but it wasn’t until they were a matter of feet away from the lift that the Legionary had just about had enough of Araeya’s face as she scowled at him one last time. She had barely spun her neck before he kicked the back of her legs and she collapsed on the floor.

“Cocky…bastard,” the Legionary enunciated as he stomped on the floor. Araeya kept her head forward, refusing to look behind her. He pressed his rifle against the back of her head as she knelt on the floor. She felt the barrel against her skull, and she tensed. The flashback she felt in the split second it took her to realise what the Legionary was doing paralysed her. The feeling of the barrel on her head – the cold metal, the pressure being applied…the memories it brought.

After a moment, the lift came down and opened in front of them and there stood two Phalanxes, gawking at Araeya on her knees, the Legionary still pressing his gun to the back of her head.

<<The Bracus asked us to continue escorting the prisoner to him. You are to return to your post in the cell block>> One of the Phalanxes commanded. The Legionary didn’t question them and lowered his gun to haul Araeya up by her elbows and practically threw her into the lift, and she stumbled into the Phalanxes. She was tired of being dragged, thrown and hauled about and she hunched her shoulders as the Cabal held their shields with one hand, and her shoulders with the other.

As the lift ascended, Araeya took the time to reflect on her position – dark. It was the only conclusion she could come to. It was the only conclusion she had time to when she looked out the window and saw a sight she never expected to see; on the decks below, she could make out three figures walking away from her but they were not Cabal. She pressed her hands against the glass attempting to get a closer look. Araeya’s legs nearly gave way as what she saw, she had hoped for the whole time – Kallori and her team were in the base. They were within reach.


	9. Recollection

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The teams reconnect to find out how one another are doing only to find that they've both hit a rut, putting a halt on the operation. Cayde offers his words of wisdom and guides them where he can by cutting into an argument that had started. Once he has finished, he and Tyrell spend the time talking and Cayde finds out a bit more about Araeya's past and, piece by piece, he works out that he was a part of it - but the not the part he'd have wanted to play...

Kallori connected comms for the first time in a while and checked in to see where Aris and her team were and how they were getting on.

“Aris,” she began, “how are you getting on? Any luck?”

“A bit stuck,” Aris responded, “we’ve hit a battalion of Cabal, a commander and rather a lot of defences, but we don’t want to engage with them – we can’t afford to.”

Rexus butted in. “Can you sneak past them?” Yarus stopped to look at Rexus, disapprovingly. He slowly shook his head.

“Rexus, buddy,” Aris was unsure how to respond to that suggestion, “might be a bit difficult for the 3 of us. At the moment, we’re holed up in a tight corridor while we do an analysis on their movements. Where are you guys?”

“Not sure. There’s little Cabal movement here but the typical sentry wandering up and down. We haven’t seen anything else,” Yarus responded, looking around. “You sure you’ve followed the Ghost trail? Surely a battalion would be deployed more for a Guardian than a Ghost…”

“Oh yeah, we’re sure,” said Tamitt.

“There’s an energy spike nearby so we’re sure we’re close…just not sure _how_ close,” Skivay added.

“Anyway, they’d protect the Ghost more than the Guardian because it’s the Ghost that would pose the immediate threat. A Guardian alone wouldn’t worry the Cabal.” Tamitt added. Kallori wasn’t ready for that kind of statement.

“Are you saying Araeya is weak?” she asked, shocked. She backed down slightly after she said it, realising she’d become unnecessarily guarded.

“Not at all. But we can’t be sure what state she is in. For all we know, she’s gotten free and is looking for Twink, in which case, having a battalion in the way would be enough to stop her…” Tamitt replied. He was sorry he even mentioned the matter.

“You guys, _we’re_ still here. We can still hear you. Please don’t argue,” Tyrell jumped in on the conversation from the Tower. Cayde was stood next to him with his arms folded, leant against the post that held his stand up in the Hangar. Tyrell was petting the Colonel.

“Yeah, we forgot about that…” Yarus responded.

“Tyrell! Is everything okay there?” Skivay asked, glad to hear her boyfriend’s voice again.

“Yeah, babe, we’re good here. Just monitoring some movements in and out the base,” Tyrell said, reassuring Skivay.

“With the six of you in the base, it gives us more eyes and we’re passing the data along to the rest of the Vanguard as you go and we can organise a full strike once you are all out and accounted for,” Cayde added. “One thing, though, we can also read any Guardian’s signature when you are nearby, so we can tell when you’re near the Ghost or the Guardian, just not _how_ close or their exact whereabouts,” Skivay snapped her fingers.

“Dammit,” she whispered. Cayde continued.

“We picked up that Aris and her team were near the Ghost, but they already had that idea, but, Kallori, we picked up a Guardian not far from you…”

“You’re just telling me now?!”

“Right, first; calm down. Secrecy is important, here. It takes a while for it to register and we butted in as soon as we got a moment between you arguing. Second; that’s all we can tell you – just that you’re near one.”

“Uh, ‘one’?” Rexus asked nervously.

“Yeah, um…no easy way to say this. We picked up a few Guardian signatures…it’s just that…this is the first one that lives…” Cayde chuckled trying not to make it seem so bleak, but he wasn’t convincing himself, less so the team in the base.

“Kal, I wanna go home,” Rexus twiddled his fingers and pleaded to Kallori. She waved him down.

“You can’t,” she said, bluntly. “Cayde, you’re saying there’s a live Guardian around. Araeya is still alive?” Cayde took a deep breath but didn’t respond.

“I would say that, based on the Cabal’s M.O, she would be anyway. They don’t tend to kill their captives straight away, so there is still time and I doubt there is a random Guardian in the base – it is well hidden,” Tyrell attempted to reassure Kallori. He studied the Cabal as well as Kallori, but he was more familiar with their behaviour as opposed to Kallori’s knowledge on their weaponry, battle tactics and leadership.

“But, long story short, we’re in the right place?” Yarus wanted confirmation.

“I’d say so, but don’t restrict your search, regardless. We don’t know if she’s being moved.”

“We’ll let you know if we find anything else,” Cayde added before cutting the comms.

With that, Kallori didn’t know what to do. Rexus had sat himself down with his arms wrapped around his knees and Yarus was pacing up and down the deck with his arms folded so she looked between them both, before talking to Aris.

“We’ll catch up with you soon,” she said.

“Sure. We’ll let you know how we get on.”

Kallori continued to look between Rexus’ terrified face and Yarus, who looked as though he could blow a fuse at any moment. She sighed as they, too, were now stuck. A Guardian’s signature was nearby, but they had no idea how close or if it was even who they were looking for.

In the Tower, Cayde had begun pacing up and down the Hangar. Tyrell sat on the floor next to the Colonel and looked up at him as he walked, his arm resting on his elbow as he rested his chin on his fingers.

“What you worrying about? You don’t worry about anything,” Tyrell said. Cayde stopped for a second to look at him, then continued walking.

“My job is to worry, but not to make other people worry in doing so.” He paused. “It’s just I’ve never felt such an attachment to a Hunter as much as I have with this one. I mean, Andal and Shiro, yeah because they were my runnin’ buddies. I’ve had loads of protégés and associates – more than I’d like to admit. Y’know; Marcus Ren, Ariadne Gris, Nadiya, Quantus Rhee…I could go on. Some of ‘em scout for me and help me out. But none of ‘em like this one. This one really is that Guardian that I would joke about with Shaxx – she kicked Crota off the Moon for crying out loud!” Cayde stopped for a moment to wave his arms about. He huffed and slumped himself down opposite Tyrell.

“Yeah, Araeya is pretty special,” Tyrell agreed.

“Y’know, she doesn’t talk much, does she?”

“Not about the stuff she needs to, no.”

“What’s that supposed to mean? She always comes to me when she has a problem, and that ain’t often…”

“I take it she wasn’t your protégé _before_ she kicked Crota off the Moon?”

“I don’t think so, no. I didn’t really know who she was before she decided to take down the whole Crota family when she went after Oryx.”

“Ah,” Tyrell wasn’t sure if he should have said anything.

“What do you mean ‘ah’?” Cayde said, leaning forward. He picked up the Colonel to sit her on his lap, eyeing Tyrell closely.

“Um…let me put it this way; do you know about her incident with Draksis?” Tyrell asked nervously.

“Oh! Is she the one who took him down? Oh, I knew she was too good from the start-”

“Yeah, she is,” Tyrell interrupted. “But she had an encounter with him several months before – that was probably the catalyst for going after him then…” Cayde put the Colonel down slowly.

“She was the one who brought back that Winter Captain, wasn’t she?” Cayde asked. Tyrell didn’t need to say anymore as Cayde’s Exo brain pieced together past events piece by piece, his little mind clicking as he remembered that day. “I sent her to Venus to do a scout report. I never got that report back. I just assumed that she’d given it to Zavala or Ikora. But then I remember this Hunter who came back absolutely battered. Bruised to the eyeballs, in fact. She was talking to Zavala and begging him to do something about this Captain. I thought she was deluded – the Captain had pretty much had it. I recognised the Captain as from House of Winter – Draksis’ House. I think seeing that Captain was what provoked me to put a bounty on his head. When I got a bite on the bounty, it never clicked that it was her and it certainly never clicked that it would be for vengeance…” Cayde took his time, but he’d pieced it all back together.

Tyrell nodded his head, slowly realising that, while he didn’t know all that much about what had happened, hearing Cayde put it together and describe what he had seen of her left him to his imagination. They looked at each other carefully.

Cayde began to take note of everything that he knew Araeya had done and it only added to his dread. If there was anything that Zavala was right about in the history of Zavala, it was that he thought Araeya was relentless. It’s true – she is. But at what cost?

“They have to find her. I won’t let them come home until they have – even if she’s dead in their arms, I want that Hunter back here in one piece. She deserves more than this…”

“I don’t think you’ll have to worry about that, Cayde. Araeya is a tough cookie – she won’t go down without a fight and I don’t think Kallori would let you bring her home until she had Araeya in her arms, whatever state she’s in.” Somehow, Tyrell’s attempt at reassurance didn’t work as well as he’d hoped.

At any point, they could have reconnected the comms to the team, but what would they say? They needed them to focus on their task and far be it from Cayde to do anything from distracting them from what was already a tense, delicate mission.


	10. Fear Not, Yet

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Valus has called Araeya for her first trial and gives her weapons back. This confuses her and she worries about what he wants from her. She knows that Kallori isn't far away and immediately starts planning a way to get her attention, but not before she is thrown in the deep end

The lift opened and Araeya was escorted onto the courtyard. The wind was strong, and it blew her cloak around her waist, flapping as it caught the breeze, dust flying around her and getting in her eyes. The Phalanxes let go of her shoulders and parted split so that they were stood away from Araeya. She looked around. Hundreds of Cabal soldiers lined the edge of the courtyard – none of them paid any attention to her as she slowly moved forward, pausing after each step to take in her surroundings. The courtyard was dismal and uninviting, but still she stood unnerved by it all.

After a while, Valus Ja’aun appeared from the opposite side of the courtyard.

“Araeya!” he bellowed in excitement. “So glad you could join us here, today! Welcome to my courtyard, also known as my…colosseum.” He gave a smug smile as he waved his arms with grand gestures and presented his courtyard. “Come, child. Walk to me and bask in the atmosphere.”

Without wanting to tempt fate or provoke a reaction, Araeya obeyed the Valus’ instructions and slowly walked towards him, cautious of the other Cabal around her.

“Fear not yet, my dear. These soldiers needn’t dare do anything unless I give the word.” Araeya walked until the Valus raised his hand to halt her only a matter of feet before him. She looked at him as he smiled. His posture resembled that of Emperor Calus…as did his ‘trials.’ “Remove the shackles from our guest, dear Bracus. She will need her hands,” he commanded.

Ma’auor stepped forward and released Araeya from the chains that restrained her hands, but he was unkind about it as he gripped her arms and yanked them towards him glaring at her, making her nervous.

“You shall see that you are nothing, here,” he hissed as he stepped away. Valus Ja’aun nodded appreciatively, smiling at the Bracus. Araeya remained unmoved.

“You shall enjoy this, my dear. You shall be reunited with some of your effects for this trial.” The Valus waved a Centurion forward with Araeya’s weapons and he handed Araeya her Outbreak Perfected. Holding it in her hands made her feel like she could take on the whole courtyard, but then she remembered she was without her Ghost. How she wondered where he was.

“What’s this for?” she asked, her voice a bit quieter than she expected. She felt so little next to the Valus.

He let out a short sharp laugh.

“You, Araeya, are going to use this,” he propped the pulse rifle in her arms, “and you are going to use it _exactly_ as you would in the field.” He looked at Araeya straight into her eyes and smiled. There was no malice in his smile, no evil in his eyes, yet she knew it was a false shade.

“You want me…to shoot…things? With this?” she looked to her rifle and then to the space in the courtyard. The Valus laughed again.

“Ha! No, Araeya. Not ‘things,’” he put his hands on his hips and straightened up to peer over the courtyard, “people.” He looked down at her again. “ _My_ people,” he specified as he grinned, all his teeth showing.

Araeya stepped back, clutching her rifle and holding it closer to her chest. “Sorry?”

“Oh, I apologise. Was I not clear enough? These soldiers are all yours. You’re going to kill them as you would any other day, however; this time, you shall be without your greatest weapon or your only defense – your Light. I would just like to see how you fair against them under…even circumstances.” Araeya studied his facial expressions. They never changed. Not even a flutter. He just stood there and smiled as if he didn’t just ask her to kill his soldiers.

“Can I ask why?”

“No, you may not. This is a simple trial. Survive this and you get to live a bit longer.” Still Valus Ja’aun smiled, never veering away. He threw Araeya her helmet and she put it on, unsure of what to expect.

He stepped forward, allowing the Bracus to step behind him and next to Araeya. As Ja’aun took to the centre of the courtyard to present the trial, Bracus Ma’auor leant into Araeya’s ear, his gaze never leaving the courtyard. “He says it’s a trial like there’ll be many more,” he whispered sharply, “he has more planned, but you won’t see them all. You’ll be lucky if you see the end of this one…”

Ma’auor moved to the door and Ja’aun continued his speech to the rest of the Cabal soldiers.

“…and all of us shall see what the Light is truly capable of,” and he paused to turn to Araeya behind him, “through its own failure.” _This_ time, his smile showed malice – a truly evil smile. He waved Araeya forward.

She knew she had to hold her head high if she wanted to be the last one standing when the dust settled. Her mind was a whirlpool filled with thoughts as she stepped towards the middle of the courtyard. They ranged from everything she had said to Kallori the day before to Shaxx’s motivation in the Crucible – which wasn’t helping her an awful lot at this stage since she was about to face an army of Cabal with no second chances.

She looked around. Ghaul was right. The Bracus was right. The Valus was right – she was not brave. But there was something they hadn’t gotten quite right; she _hadn’t_ forgotten the fear of death. She feared it every day. A part of her still doesn’t trust the Light and so she feared not coming back. She feared not seeing the people she loved every day. She feared never finding the answers she sought. And now, she feared leaving Kallori. She couldn’t do it. Not now.

But that fear didn’t stop her. No, she wasn’t brave. She wasn’t fearless. But it was that fear that drove her to do everything that she did, survive everything she had and continue each day as if it were her first. So, she would take this trial, and every other that she faced, whatever state she was in.

But she also remembered that Kallori was not far away. If she could just find a way to get her attention…

She didn’t have time to think anymore – Valus Ja’aun pushed her into the middle of the courtyard and bellowed so that the whole base could hear;

<<Commence the challenge! Bathe my Colosseum in her blood!>>

Araeya, confused, whirled around in shock as she didn’t understand what the Valus had just said, and instead she saw both the Valus and the Bracus climb to the top of the balcony and witness the trial as all of the soldier that lined the outside of the courtyard readied their weapons and made a b-line towards her. She was not backing down. Not without a fight.


	11. Gunfire

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kallori is adamant that Araeya is free and she is just trying to find her way out and asks her Ghost, Spark, to help them out, as much as Spark doesn't want to. Rexus shows his true Titan self - cowardly, Yarus' mind begins wandering off and Cayde is still determined to bring everyone home in one piece

The first shot that was fired could have been heard on the decks below and it made Rexus jump out of his Exoskeleton and he ran to hide. Yarus folded his arms.

“Dude, you can’t run and hide the second you hear a gunshot,” he said, disgusted.

“Where did it even come from, though. I don’t understand. Is it Aris – have they found them?” Rexus asked, cowering behind a Thresher. Kallori looked at him and sighed.

“I doubt it, but if it makes you feel any better, I can ask them?” and without hesitation, she connected the comms to Aris and her team.

“Oh good, you guys are okay,” Aris crackled over the comms before Kallori even had time to breathe.

“Sure, why wouldn’t we be?”

“We heard a load of gunshots coming from roughly where you are and worried if they were for you because they didn’t sound like weapons of Light…”

“We heard them, too, but there aren’t any enemies here. We can’t see anyone other than us…”

“Didn’t Cayde say he saw a Guardian signature near you guys?” Skivay asked. She, Aris and Tamitt were still holed up in a corridor monitoring movement in and out of the guard room. They were about to execute their plan when they heard the gunshots.

“He did, but we have such a big area to cover and if we split up, we’ll be picked off,” Yarus mentioned.

“Uh, actually, guys, the signature is more defined,” Cayde interrupted. The team had forgotten that he would still be listening. “If a Guardian is spotted using their signature while wielding a weapon of Light – specifically an exotic – their signature is more defined…”

“Well? Don’t give me the details – just say it!” Kallori said, impatient.

“Alright, alright! The signature is coming from above you. But it’s weak.”

“Above…?” Kallori looked up and saw only darkness. Rexus refused to come out from behind the Thresher and Yarus was unsure of the situation.

“But the Cabal wouldn’t allow any Guardian to keep their weapons. Why would they be using them?”

“It’s Araeya! She’s obviously broken free – she’s trying to defend herself,” Kallori exclaimed, excited. She knew Araeya was strong and knew that she could get herself out.

“Whoever it is and whatever they are doing, their signal is weak, meaning they haven’t got a lot of life left to give. You need to find her Ghost and get your asses up to that deck and get them out!” Cayde wasn’t playing around. Ever since he linked together everything that happened to Araeya, he had been praying for her to still be alive and he prayed for her to come home in one piece. The team needed to get her, and her Ghost paired up and brought home whatever it took.

The team cut the comms and got to working out how to get to the upper decks to where the Guardian signal was coming from. Rexus had refused point blank to emerge from behind the Thresher, while Kallori and Yarus looked around for a way up. Kallori got her Ghost to help.

“Spark, I need you to do a scan of the base – find any route onto the upper decks,” she demanded. She had an interesting relationship with her Ghost – they were all too similar in their attitudes towards each other and it made for quite tense conversations and, in many cases, arguments ensued followed by a brief time period in which they would refuse to talk to each other. That was one thing, and the only thing, that she and Ikora had in common.

“Yeah,” Spark responded bluntly with a slight huff in his voice. Kallori turned to Yarus, but he raised his hand as she inhaled to speak. He did not want to hear what she had to say. If he was honest, he would say that he didn’t want to hear anyone speak anymore until all seven of them were back at the Tower. He found raids too overwhelming and he enjoyed the ones where not much needed to be said. The only problem was that this particular one had too much at stake and he couldn’t bare to handle the responsibility of his friend’s life on the line.

Yarus would never admit it, but he hated hanging around Kallori when Araeya was involved. It was never a case of disliking them or their company, but more the way it made him feel when they were both together – left out. Unwanted. Second-best. He already felt those things when Tamitt was with them because Tamitt was the superior Titan of them all. But feeling that way next to his Warlock friend’s Hunter girlfriend somehow made him feel worse.

Most would call it jealousy, but Yarus never saw it that way. He just wanted to be respected – to be heard. If Kallori wasn’t in charge, then Tamitt would be. Or if Kallori was stuck, Tamitt would suggest.

He was okay with Aris. She was a breath of fresh air; a different voice to command. He could listen to her all day. In fact, he would even go so far as to say he liked her. He wanted to know her more.

The silence was ripped apart by Spark returning from his scan.

“No such thing as upper decks. It’s the roof of the base,” he said bluntly.

“Okay,” Kallori huffed, “what about a way up? Did you actually scan for that?”

“Yeah, I did, actually,” Spark huffed in return, not even looking at Kallori, “behind you – a lift. Want jazz hands with that, too?”

“Oh, do give it a rest, Spark. The lift is concealed so we weren’t to know it was there, were we?”

“Well, now ya do, so go on. Go find your girlfriend. Kiss and make up.” Spark was nasty in tense situations and he and Kallori had disagreed over the way she handled the situation with Araeya the day before, but as usual, neither of them listened to each other. They both had their moments when they would be the perfect team and that is why they had never given up on each other, but at times like this, they would rarely see eye-to-eye.

“Oh, I will, don’t you worry about that,” Kallori said sharply, insisting that Spark went away. She sighed deeply and her shoulders dropped.

“Well, we don’t have a lot of time, so we’d better get moving.” Yarus said not expecting a response. He made headway towards the elevator, detouring to the Thresher that Rexus was hiding behind to drag him out. He grabbed him by the collar and dragged him across the floor on his bum. Rexus folded his arms and dug his chin into his chest, huffing as Yarus pulled him along. Kallori couldn’t do anything but roll her eyes, wondering how she had been set up with the two Titans that couldn’t do anything for themselves.


	12. Desperation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Araeya is inches away from her final death when Kallori, Rexus and Yarus burst in, but they were not expecting quite such resistance and, despite their best efforts, they couldn't reach Araeya in time and Cayde is most displeased to hear the result

Back in the courtyard, Araeya was down to her knees, low on ammo and bleeding out. She had been stabbed, shot, punched and kicked, but she had lowered the Cabal numbers by half. She would have lowered them further, but she was pinned down by a Gladiator who had thrown an axe at her back.

Her mind was torn as the feeling from her spine seethed with pain and the feeling of her open wounds over her arms fought for priority. The axe was wedged deep into her back, the tip only millimetres away from ending her life there and then as it sat near her spinal cord. She wanted to scream, but her breath was cut short as the sheer excruciation of the blade in her back winded her every time she inhaled. Instead, she knelt on the floor gasping for air.

The soldiers were ordered to wait for her to get back up before they continued to attack, beating her to within an inch of her life. The Valus looked over Araeya’s body from afar as she knelt amongst dead Cabal Legionaries and War Beasts and studied her bruises, her gashes and her scars as they shone red, fresh from the blade. How he’d longed to see such impressions made on a Guardian that still lived.

Araeya’s sight was blurred. She was tired. She was weak. She hadn’t much left to give. She couldn’t move her shoulders to remove the axe from her spine, but she couldn’t move at all while it was there, slowly edging its way through her muscles and nerves. Every time she moved, it moved with her and she nearly passed out with the pain. The Gladiator that threw it stood proud, laughing at her as she knelt, helpless against the pain. She could no longer aim her Outbreak Perfected to fire it at anyone or anything and the Bracus was getting impatient.

<<Sir, the Guardian is weak. We should finish it while we have the chance>>

Ja’aun raised his hand in Ma’auor’s face.

<<Not yet, dear Ma’auor. We have not yet explored the full extent to her abilities>>

Ma’auor sighed. <<But sir, she does not deserve to live->>

<<No more, Bracus. I have my plans – I shall stick to them. She has exhibited far more here than I expected>> He gestured to the centre of the courtyard. <<Look at the blood, Bracus. Blood means glory and this Guardian has taken much and still stands even without her Light. This suggests more than I was prepared for, meaning I simply must see more>>

The Bracus sat back in his seat, admitting defeat. He wasn’t bothered about all the fancies that Valus Ja’aun wanted to do. He just wanted the Hunter to undergo a slow and painful death in which he would see the life fade from her eyes while he stood over her. He wanted to hear her take her last painful breath in his shadow and then deliver her lifeless body to the Guardians at the Tower and show to them all what they shall suffer. He had big plans and it all began with this Hunter.

But the pain he felt having to wait for the Valus to decide when she died, and the chances were that she would be executed on the spot before him – it was all too much. But he bowed before a greater order and that meant big consequences if he disobeyed. He had to be patient.

But his patience was wearing thin.

Ma’auor spaced out. He was no longer paying attention to what was happening in the middle of the courtyard. Instead, he was daydreaming about the Traveller’s demise – the day that the Cabal will be free of constant desire and open to their own needs. But just out of the corner of his eyes, he noticed the elevator door open, and three Guardians readying their weapons.

<<Intruder!>> he bellowed at the top of his lungs and the Valus turned to leap over the balcony, alarms blaring over the PA system, distorting everyone.

Kallori, Yarus and Rexus opened fire on all the Cabal soldiers in the courtyard, each one of them turning their attention away from Araeya and opening fire on the three Guardians instead – one Gladiator running only with one axe.

Personally, Valus Ja’aun yanked the axe out from Araeya’s back, Bracus in tow, and Araeya could have screamed, but the pain was so intense that no sound came out, and she instead collapsed in a heap on the floor, still bleeding out from all her other wounds.

Kallori and the Titans were mowing the Cabal down without a problem, making headway towards Araeya and the Valus. Kallori never took her eyes off the centre of the courtyard, blinking away the astral dust that whirled around them as clouds began to restrict their vision.

She saw the Valus tear the axe from her back. She saw her pain as her back was exposed, her skin torn open. She saw the heap she’d collapsed in as Ja’aun and Ma’auor leant over her, uninterrupted from fire.

“Yarus! Thundercrash! Hurry!” Kallori shouted, pointing at the middle of the courtyard.

“I can’t, Kal. I’m too hurt…” Yarus responded, apologetically.

“Rexus! Maul!” she shouted instead. But upon looking over her shoulder, she saw that Rexus was down, his Ghost waiting for the chance to get him back up.

The Bracus put the restraints back on Araeya’s half broken wrists and the Valus picked her up and hauled her over his shoulder before making a b-line for the way out at the back, running in the opposite direction to Kallori and Yarus.

With all the soldiers down thanks to Kallori’s Chaos Reach finishing the remaining few, Kallori had a clear view of Araeya as she was carried away out of sight once more, bleeding over the Valus’ back. Araeya had no strength to look up, but she knew they were there. She had faith that they would find her.

Kallori dropped to her knees next to Araeya’s Outbreak Perfected that had been left lying on the floor as the Bracus stole her wrists while Rexus’ Ghost picked him back up and Yarus filled him in. She couldn’t cry. Araeya was so close yet so far. She was within reach. But since their presence within the base was now known, they hadn’t much time left at all. Kallori called it in.

“We’ve been discovered,” she said bluntly. Cayde picked up immediately.

“How? What did you do?” he asked, panicked. Skivay also responded.

“Do they know we’re here, too?”

“No, they don’t. As far as they’re aware, we’re the only three they know about. But Cayde, we saw her. She was within arm’s reach…” Kallori struggled to find the right words.

“There’s a ‘but,’ isn’t there?” Cayde said.

“They got to her before we did. They’ve taken her away again. We got eyes on the Valus – he is not without an army by his side every time…”

Cayde thumped his fist on his table, making Tyrell jump. “Dammit!” he shouted.

“Cayde? What’s going on?” Skivay asked. “You’ve been acting weird since you told them about the Guardian signal.”

Cayde took a deep breath before he responded.

“Nothing. Just find her.” And with that, he disconnected the comms. Yarus and Rexus stood in silence behind Kallori, unsure of what to say or do. Aris, Skivay and Tamitt looked at one another stunned at what just happened.

“She was so weak.” Kallori could only muster a tiny voice. “Her back…her face…she was on death’s door and we could have saved her-”

“But we didn’t, Kallori. The only thing we can do now is follow the Valus and hope we can find her. We know she’s still alive, now. That’s one thing we weren’t expecting…” Yarus interrupted, hoping he could talk some sense into her. Tamitt thought of a suggestion.

“Kal. You know the Cabal like no-one else and you’ve said before that they like to test their captives before they kill them. A Valus is more than likely to have a range of tests as it’s their job. Given the time we’ve been here, what you have just interrupted can’t be more than the first of many. She’s weak now, but they won’t be finished with her, yet. Follow what trail you have until it goes cold. In the meantime, we can find her Ghost and if you still haven’t gotten to her by that time, we’ll rendezvous with you somewhere and have Twink find her. He can do that.”

Tamitt was ever the brightest among them and always kept his head on straight. He knew exactly what to do in times of peril and despair, such as the one they found themselves in, here. The only problem was that it pressured him and his team to find her Ghost. They needed to do it quickly.

Kallori nodded her head and stood up, clutching Araeya’s pulse rifle in one hand and gripped her Dust Rock Blues in the other. She turned to Rexus and Yarus who stood side by side behind her. No one needed to say anything. They all knew what must be done.

Tamitt and his team acted on their plan to sneak past the guards and Kallori and her team pressed forward, running in the direction that the Valus took Araeya.


	13. Dead Guardian Walking

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the Valus escaped the Courtyard rush with Araeya, she had awoken in a position all too similar to one she'd been in before - only this time it was like a horror story and once everything had calmed down, Ma'auor had some words for her

In the run between the courtyard and where they were now, Araeya had passed out from exhaustion and quite possibly from the amount of blood she’d lost. But she’d woken up tied to a chair with lines running to and from her body. She looked around through blurred vision, tipping her head up and noting all the bandages she was covered in – all around her waist, up her arms and down her legs. She looked at the lines coming from her and traced them all around the room.

When her vision adjusted, she nearly passed out again – the lines ran to her body from dead _Guardians_. She didn’t know what to do. She struggled, but the pain was still seething from her broken bones and scars. She hadn’t realised that the Valus was still in the room with her.

“You’re awake,” he began, shifting himself off the bench from across the room. “I wondered if you would come around.” He paused and saw why she looked so pale. “My apologies. We don’t usually keep Guardian blood. We don’t have much use for it.” He chuckled. Araeya said nothing.

“You impressed me with how you handled my trial, today. I can’t wait to see how you handle my next one.”

“There’s another?” Araeya lifted her head so that she could see Ja’aun’s face. He smiled.

“Of course there is, dear Araeya,” he said, narrowing his eyes. “We’re not finished with you, yet.” He turned around to face the door, Araeya frantically looking around for a way out, but frightening herself at the sight of dead Guardians, disembowelled for their blood.

<<She’s awake. Take her back down>> Valus Ja’aun shouted to the door. Ma’auor burst through followed by two Legionaries – one being Araeya’s cell guard – and they came to remove her from her chair, her hands still tied behind her back. As they turned her, she caught sight of a small light in the back of the room – Twink. This was where they were keeping her Ghost.

“Little Light. Do your thing,” the Bracus commanded, pushing Araeya forward.

“Twink…” she whispered.

“I’m good. They haven’t done anything. They just left me here, but there’s a whole army in the other room,” he whispered back as he knitted Araeya’s bones back together and stitched her scars. She sighed, feeling the pain ease away, but she didn’t get the chance to say anything else before the Bracus pulled her away.

“Have a pleasant night, Araeya,” the Valus said, “you’ll need it for tomorrow.” Ja’aun let out a chuckle so low it made her organs shudder and Ma’auor pushed her out the door.

He’d barely closed it when his hand was around Araeya’s throat, the two Legionaries stepping away from her. He pulled her in close.

“You are spoilt, here. The Valus is kind when he sees you weak. Me? I’m not so much. My time will come. Ja’aun will get bored of you before too long and he’ll just pass you on to me, and when he does, you will be begging for your death.” His grip was strong as he choked Araeya, her legs becoming weak. He slowly picked her up and she gasped for air. She tried to scream but no sound came out and, with her hands still tied behind her back, she couldn’t try to pry the Bracus’ hand from her neck.

She thought back to the same situation with Draksis – his grip unfathomable. How she scratched and clawed at him to get him off her and how he looked directly into her eye, cutting her mind into tiny little pieces. She looked at the Bracus. How he looked at her with the same evil eyes, his smile as wide as it could go and his grip…his grip was the same, life-stealing, mind-eating grip and it was that, and that only, that struck fear into her eyes.

Just as she was losing sight of hope in her life, he put her down and she fell to her knees, desperately gasping for air.

Ma’auor sighed. “But alas,” he began, “that will have to wait. My time will come.” He paused. “Yours, too,” he said as he tilted his head to look at Araeya as she picked herself off the floor. <<To the cells>> he commanded, pointing towards the guard room and the Legionaries pushed Araeya in front of them.


	14. Plan of Action

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aris, Skivay and Tamitt act on their plan to attempt to retrieve Twink from the Cabal grasp, doubting their ability to succeed, until something across the room gives them a shining beam of hope, powering them on

In the corridor before the guard room, Tamitt was ensuring that the plan was straight before they continued.

“Clear on the plan, Aris?” he asked. Aris nodded her head and looked to Skivay.

“I’m going invisible and Skivay is going to follow me under my smoke bomb. We’re going towards the centre pillar before you’re going around the outside. I’m then jumping up onto the ceiling beams and taking their attention away from the doors before Skivay runs through the plants on the opposite side to you and then you’re distracting them so that I can run across the beams and to the door. Rinse and repeat until we’re all back into the corridor.”

All three of them nodded their heads as they stepped out from the shadows, Aris and Skivay shoulder to shoulder ready for her smoke bomb. But just as she was about to drop it to the floor, Skivay grabbed her arm.

“Wait,” she whispered sharply. “Look…” and she pointed to behind the Colossus who stood at the back of the room. “A Bracus.”

Tamitt pulled them both back into the shadows where they were hiding. Aris peaked her head around the corner. “That’s the Bracus who came for Araeya…” She continued looking as the Bracus emerged from the back of the room and her jaw dropped. She didn’t say a word and instead frantically tapped Skivay’s shoulder. Skivay peered around the corner and her jaw dropped.

“That’s Araeya they have, there!”

Aris hesitated no more and called it in with Kallori immediately. While she connected the comms, Araeya’s eyes met Skivay’s and they lit up. Araeya knew that she had to somehow lead them to where she was being taken, but she couldn’t give it away to the Cabal.

Instead, she ‘fell’ over and as the Legionaries picked her back up, she twisted herself so that her bound hands faced Skivay and pointed to the door she’d just come out of and snapped her fingers, a little left over Arc energy sparking, signalling that the Light was in that back room – her Ghost.

Skivay nodded and understood before she turned back to her team.

“Twink is definitely behind that door and if Araeya is being taken elsewhere, it is imperative that we get there ASAP.”

Tamitt nodded and Aris had finally gotten through to Kallori.

“Kallori, it’s Aris. We found Araeya.”

“What? Where?” Kallori asked frantically.

“She has just been taken out of a room where we thought her Ghost was and she’s confirmed it for us – he’s in there.”

Hiding on the other side of the comms back at the Tower, Cayde and Tyrell were joined by Ikora and Aunor as they heard the news and Cayde threw his fist into the air, Ikora and Aunor smiling at one another.

“They’re so close, now. They just have to get her out alive without war breaking out,” Aunor said, crossing one arm over her body.

“They can do it. I know they can,” Tyrell said linking his hands together in front of him as if he was praying.

“What do we do?” Kallori asked. Aris thought for a moment.

“Abandon anything that you’re doing now and make your way to the landing pads. Stay hidden and wait for us to get there. We’ll be arriving with her Ghost. He’ll be able to tell us what to do then.” She sounded confident and the three of them peered around the corner to see Araeya get escorted to what they would later find out to be the holding cells.

Without hesitation, Aris pulled Skivay into her and dropped the smoke bomb and both of them ran straight for the centre pillar.

Tamitt crawled through the plants on the right side of the room.

Aris dropped another smoke bomb and climbed up to the beams on the ceiling, making little noise until she was positioned directly above a Phalanx.

Tamitt nodded in her direction and she threw a bullet case across to the right, allowing Skivay to run to the left.

<<Do we check it out, sir?>> a Legionary asked. The Colossus waved him off and he turned back to his post.

Tamitt moved forward a little before throwing a hammer over to the corridor that they’d all just come from.

The Colossus jumped and sent his Phalanxes over to check it out, giving Aris room to move across a few beams without being in the Cabal’s peripheral vision.

Aris was a mere few metres away from the door and it was up to Skivay and Tamitt to keep the Cabal distracted for long enough so that she could get in and out without being noticed. It was Skivay’s turn to make a move.

She, too, threw a hammer in the direction of the corridor, careful not to make it too obvious where it had come from.

This time, the Legionaries at the front of the room moved to inspect it. It wasn’t enough. The Colossus still didn’t move.

<<Sir, these are hammers that the big Guardians use>> a Legionary announced.

The Colossus huffed. <<But there shouldn’t be any Guardians here…we have had this room secure all day>>

The Phalanxes shrugged. <<They didn’t come from nowhere, sir…>> one argued, tentatively.

Tamitt looked over to Skivay. She shrugged, too. Without thinking, Aris threw another bullet into the far corner of the room so that the Colossus turned and without hesitation, she threw down her last smoke bomb and jumped down and into the door, leaving Tamitt and Skivay alone in the guard room almost completely unprotected against all the Cabal.

They looked at each other carefully and then buried themselves down in the plants, careful to stay out of sight and not to move. They silently connected the comms to Aris so that they could keep her informed as she searched for Twink in the back room.


	15. Discovery

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bracus Ma'auor discovers something about Araeya that he hadn't anticipated and Araeya learns something about herself that she didn't know she had in her. Meanwhile Aris learns that the Cabal are far more cruel than she ever thought of them and Tamitt and Skivay learn how to run from them

Arriving at the holding cells, Araeya looked at the room she was in. she could have sworn that it was drearier than we she was last here. While the Legionaries rearranged her restraints to fix her to the middle of the floor again, the Bracus turned his back and chuckled.

“You know what’s funny? The Valus has high hopes for you. He really thinks you’ll be the answer to everything.” He turned back around to face Araeya as she sat on the floor, arms wrapped around her legs, the chains running behind her. The Legionaries closed the bars.

“When he turned to me and asked for a Guardian to study, neither of us had any idea what type of Guardian we would end up with. At the time, neither of us cared. But finding out that my soldiers had captured you boosted my status with him, and I’ve never felt so alive. Seeing you fight in the courtyard…I looked upon who is supposed to be the god of Guardians, and needless to say, I was disappointed. But the Valus? He saw life in a Lightless Guardian and he really believes that you will continue to be useful. Me? No. The sooner that you are gone from this life, the better. You are of no use to me.”

Araeya looked at him confused. She didn’t understand what they wanted from her and why the Bracus was stringing Ja’aun along when he had his own intentions.

“Then kill me,” she said bluntly, her eyes never flickering from his intense gaze. “If you don’t see me as useful, then fucking kill me.” Ma’auor blinked and stepped back. He pulled out his knife and slowly walked towards her, pointing the blade at her face.

“Is that what you really want?” he asked, studying her. “Do you really want me to kill you? Because that can be arranged. I can tell the Valus you killed yourself. Set up the crime scene in my favour. Just say the word…” he hesitated, waiting for her to begin begging him. It never happened.

“Go for it,” she said with a straight face. “Go on. Fucking do it. See if I care. I have nothing left. I’ve done it all! Killed Crota, Oryx, Ghaul…the list goes on. I’ve taken on Ahamkara. I’ve ventured through time. I’ve died over and over and over again and I’m sick of it. I have…nothing. So, go on. Stick that blade wherever the hell you like, but you won’t see me crying about it. I’m not going to sit here and beg for mercy.” Her voice never wavered, and her body showed no sign of backing down.

The Bracus stood still, holding his blade inches away from Araeya. He didn’t know what to do or what to say. He was stunned.

Araeya didn’t even notice the blade and Ma’auor didn’t even notice as his knife slipped into Araeya’s stomach. He saw her eyes – they never changed. They continued staring at him in the same careless way she’d started. The knife continued venturing into her body and her eyes began to water, but they still showed no fear.

Ma’auor let go of the knife and stepped away from her slowly, leaving it in her body. He cleared his throat, repositioned himself and turned to the Legionaries.

<<Keep an eye on her. Wait a few hours and then remove the knife – I’ll need that later>>

One Legionary saluted the Bracus and took to watching the door. Ma’auor turned to the other Legionary.

<<Accompany me to the Valus’ observatory. I must alert him to my new findings>>

With that, they left and Araeya sat on the floor in exactly the same way she’d started, tears rolling down her face and the knife turning red with her blood as it trickled down the blade and dripped onto the floor.

She looked at the chains on her wrists and followed them into the middle of the room. She tugged them and they rattled. She tugged them harder and they rattled louder. Slowly, she was losing her will. She tugged at the chains so hard that they began bruising her wrists.

Araeya had never wanted to scream so loud. She had never felt despair quite like it.

“Aris,” Tamitt whispered over the comms, “can you see him?”

Aris looked around the room in shock at what she saw – all the dead Guardians strung up for their blood, the lines running over the floor…she thought she was going to pass out.

“Remind me again who we’re looking for,” she asked, shakily. Skivay looked over at where Tamitt was hiding.

“Aris, you’re worrying me. What’s going on?”

“I- you- no. I can’t unsee this-”

“Aris…?”

“Tamitt how much do you know about the Cabal?”

“Enough. Why, what’s going on?” Tamitt was getting nervous. Aris took a deep breath.

“What do they do with Guardians?”

“Um…I don’t know. Test them. Trial them. Why?”

“I think I know where Cayde was getting all the dead Guardian signatures from…”

The three Guardians stood in silence as they realised what was happening.

“Find Twink and get out of there as quickly as possible – it won’t be long before they know we’re here…” Skivay said, looking over her shoulder.

Aris stepped slowly around the room, twisting and turning every which way to make sure no-one was hiding ready to ambush her. She was careful not to make too much noise as she approached the back of the room where multiple anti-transmat cages were laid out on the shelves behind a chair.

She looked to the chair and found a knife on it with the letter ‘A’ followed by a heart inscribed on the handle – one of Araeya’s knives. It was the one that Kallori had given to her at their first Dawning together. Araeya had given her two Warlock Bonds that week – one of which Kallori wore all the time.

Something stirred that made Aris jump and she dropped a smoke bomb and turned invisible.

Something groaned. She looked along the shelved with the cages lining them and saw only dead Ghosts until she looked at the very end and saw that there was one Ghost still alive.

“Twink?” she asked, tentatively.

“Aris?” the Ghost replied. Aris’ Ghost projected light onto him. It was Twink!

“Twink! Good god I thought we’d never find you. What’s all this?” she asked as she got to picking the locks on the cage door.

“They used the blood of these Guardians on Araeya because she’d lost so much. I don’t know how but I didn’t think she would pull through…” Aris looked around again and shuddered.

“I saw Araeya earlier and she seemed in one piece…” Aris wanted to continue speaking, but she realised what she said decided it wasn’t wise to jinx something like that.

“They allowed me to heal her before they took her away, but she isn’t whole, Aris. She is not okay. I saw the look in her eyes. The same ill-fated looked that Panza’s Guardian showed when he’d lost his mind. I’m worried that if the Cabal don’t get to her, she’ll get to herself and I can’t let that happen…”

Aris had picked the locks and Twink shot out and expanded, feeling the Light as he frantically downloaded schematics and access codes just as the other Ghosts would have done. Aris connected to Cayde’s unit.

“I’ve got Araeya’s Ghost.”

Cayde had never gotten up off the floor so fast and he hopped to his radio. He was tired and falling asleep on the floor next to Tyrell. They did not want to rest until the team was home safe – the rest of the Tower had quietened down and there was little movement in and out of the Hangar.

“You have?! What about Araeya? Have you seen her?”

Aris and Twink looked at each other. She knew she just had to say it.

“We all have."

Cayde didn’t say anything. He looked at Tyrell and Tyrell turned to Ikora who had just walked in but heard what was being said. She looked concerned.

“Just bring her home,” Ikora said plainly.

Twink turned to Aris once more. “I can help find her, but we need to be quick.”

“Yes, we do – Tamitt and Skivay are outside holding the Cabal’s attention outside.”

“Want another distraction? It’ll have to be a big one to move them away from the door to get you back…” Skivay suggested.

“You’re both gonna have to just run in opposite directions to split them up and we’ll rendezvous at the main landing pad when you’re clear. I’ll let the other team know we’re coming.”

Tamitt and Skivay counted to three together before they jumped out of their hiding places and bolted for each other, changing directions to get the Cabal’s attention and heading out of the room.

<<After them!>> the Colossus demanded, and the battalion scattered, following the Titans as they ran as fast as they could away from the guard room.


	16. Arising Tensions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kallori and her team wait quietly among the landing pads with Twink, but it is not without anxiousness turning into blame as they look for a reason for the mess they're in. That is, until a new matter is brought to their attention

Kallori, Rexus and Yarus had split themselves across the landing pads so as not to be too detectable by the patrolling Cabal that trundled their way up and down the decks. Kallori was hidden on top of a Cabal Thresher, hiding just behind the wing. Rexus was hidden underneath a Thresher opposite her, crouching behind the pontoons. Yarus was the other side of the deck hiding in a tight squeeze between landing pillars just off the pads. They continued to talk amongst each other on a private comm network so they wouldn’t disturb the other three as they tried to outrun the Cabal.

They figured the other team were strong enough and would reach the rendezvous point when they could.

“How much longer do we wait?” Rexus asked nervously.

“They’ll get here when they get here. I’m sure they're fine,” Yarus responded, trying to hide the annoyance in his voice. He looked over to the Thresher that Kallori was hiding on top of. “You okay, Kallori?”

There was a moment of silence that hung in the air before Kallori sighed.

“We’re so close…”

“I guess so.”

“Then why do I feel like we’re so far away?”

“Uh, I don’t, so I don’t know why you do.” Yarus was confused.

“ _I’m_ the reason we’re here. _I’m_ the reason Araeya is in the mess she is – Because _I’m_ too goddamn stubborn. Because _I’m_ not like her, I’m…” her voice trailed off as she got so angry, she couldn’t find the words. She just felt horrible.

Araeya had tried to move forward with her using three little words and she shut her down without a second’s thought. Her and Spark had argued over it ever since and, as much as she’d hate to admit it, Spark was right.

She handled the situation all wrong. In Kallori’s mindset, a Guardian deals with huge amounts of pressure, but none has she ever experienced where she couldn’t deal with it. At least, until Araeya said those three little words. She suddenly felt so overwhelmed with pressure that she neither thought possible nor like she should, that her emotional side – or what little there was – just shut down. She became non-responsive and she couldn’t hear Araeya. She couldn’t feel Araeya. She couldn’t see Araeya.

Kallori knew she’d overreacted. What she didn’t know was the impact it would have on Araeya and all the while she lay awake that night listening to her own thoughts, Twink and Spark were desperately trying to get Kallori to see some sense, but to no avail.

It explained a lot of Spark’s sarcasm throughout the day.

“I don’t know if she’ll ever want to even _look_ at my face, again.”

“If the Cabal are what Tamitt says they are, she’ll be glad to even see Zavala, I’d imagine,” Yarus attempted to reassure Kallori.

She shook her head.

“She despises Zavala, but she knows his strength and his will, so she still looks up to him for some part, but I’m just a Warlock that the community hates. Everything about me is replaceable and, therefore, I am not the sort of person that she would want to see come to her rescue.”

“You know something, Kallori?” Yarus was getting annoyed. “Since you and Araeya started dating, you’ve become soft. Really soft. What happened to the Warlock that gave zero fucks?”

“Excuse me?” It was getting difficult to hide her anger as Kallori’s voice slowly got louder.

“You never used to care like this. You never used to worry about anything. Nothing ever stopped you in your tracks, you just ploughed through anything. That’s why I’ve always liked you – you were practically a Titan like the rest of us. Now? Now you really are a _Warlock_.” Yarus had such malice in his voice that, if so much wasn’t at stake, Kallori would have marched over to where he was hiding and had him up against the wall, hand around his throat and their eyes locked in engagement.

She was stunned. How dare he?! After everything they’d been through – as a team…

Silence filled the air once more and Rexus sat awkwardly under his Thresher, twiddling his thumbs wanting to say something, but unsure as to what he should say.

It stayed in such a way, until a small Hunter appeared on the other side of the landing decks, looking decidedly out of breath. Kallori jumped down from the Thresher she was hiding on and pulled the Hunter into the side to avoid the oncoming Legionaries.

“Aris?”

Aris looked up from her crouched position as she caught her breath.

“Did a…a lap around the base…army of Cabal on my…my tail…don’t know where…where the others are,” she said exasperated.

“They can’t be far behind, surely?”

“We…we split up to get away…”

Kallori patted Aris on her back as she stood up straight again. “I do have some news, though.”

Kallori’s face lit up as Aris allowed Twink to materialise in front of her.

“Twink!” Kallori shouted, forgetting they were supposed to be hiding. “Can you scan for Araeya now?”

“I’ve been scanning for her for a while. Her signal is weak, but it’s not too far away. But we have to go down and all six of us can’t go down there.”

Kallori and Aris pondered what Twink had said before Twink had made his own decision.

“Aris and Skivay need to come,” he said plainly. He turned to Kallori. “You’re coming without question. She’ll need to see you.”

Kallori stepped back.

“Me? Of all people?”

Twink floated so that he was inches away from Kallori’s face.

“Yes. If you had any idea how she felt during that Strike, what she said, you’d know that it wasn’t you that has her in this position, but it was her determination to believe that she had driven you away. She was determined to finish that Strike and chase you down and it was that distraction that had her in such a way.”

“We’ll need to wait for Skivay to get here,” Aris added, looking over her shoulder. Twink nodded, still staring at Kallori as she blushed, unsure of what she should say – if there was anything to say at all.

Skivay crackled into radio range, panting.

“I ditched the main battalion, but this Colossus has better stamina than I do – even carrying that gun with him. I know it’s supposed to be a covert operation, but I’m coming round the corner towards the landing deck – I need you all to ambush him and completely remove him from the equation, but keep it tidy.”

The three Guardians looked between them. They’d never had to create a spontaneous ambush on something quite so large. It would take all three of them to attempt to bring him down.


	17. Disappointment

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Araeya is exactly as the Bracus had left her, only this time, she was left with her own thoughts as she stares at the knife in her side. As with everyone left alone with their thoughts, feelings re-emerge and fears materialise in whatever form best appropriate. For Araeya, it is a familiar sight.

All the while, they meticulously planned their attack, Araeya sat in her holding cell, this time guarded by a second Legionary. After what the Bracus had just witnessed, he deemed it more appropriate to have a second guard on standby. They hadn’t even patched her wound, but instead had left the knife in her stomach and she sat on the floor, watching as her blood trickled down the blade, onto the handle and dripped slowly onto the puddle on the floor, her expression blank as she counted the seconds between each drop.

_One…two…three…four…drip_

_One…two…three…four…drip_

Her mind became less focussed with each setting drop that sounded upon hitting the puddle in front of her knees as she knelt, her chained hands resting in front of her.

She rarely lifted her head. Not even to the sound of the dungeon doors opening and closing as Legionaries swapped shifts, muttering amongst themselves as they observed their prisoner in all her delusions.

_Too many hours…not enough minutes…no time_

_Too many hours…not enough…_

_Too many…_

Her breathing became more laboured. Her vision became more blurred. Yet she did not panic. She was not broken, but she was breaking. Cracking. Araeya knew help was near. Kallori was near. Twink was still alive and they still had a hold on the Light – there was hope. She only had to hold on a little longer.

_Just a little longer…_

_Just a little…_

No.

She couldn’t wait. She needed to get away. She needed to break the Cabal’s hold on her exactly as she had done when Draksis held her.

_Draksis…_

No. She couldn’t let him take her mind again. He was dead. How could she let him worm his way back into her mind? How could she have grown so weak in so little time?

Araeya lifted her hands to hold the dagger’s handle. She felt the blade inside her tingle with movement through the layers of her armour and her skin. She flinched hard as her hands connected with the handle and her fear materialised before her eyes.

_Draksis…_

But, even in all his armour, impenetrable to any blade but the one still lodged in his shoulders - Eminaaks' blade, his four eyes staring into her soul again, eating her from within and slowly devouring her sanity…even with the feeling of his clawed hands around her throat once more, scratching his way down her neck, his hands cold to the touch…this was not what she feared. She wasn’t scared of him anymore.

What she feared was…disappointment.

Draksis had shown her many things. He had, admittedly, made her into the fighter she was today. As a scout, she had very little to worry about. She was never on the ‘front lines,’ or out on missions. No, she provided the intelligence and information to provoke those missions. This made her a target and she had no idea of what order. Not until Draksis picked his moment to expose her to herself in all her weakness.

She could only begin to imagine the disappointment she had given to herself and everyone around her. There were some days following any incident she faced where she would lie awake at night when she wasn’t on patrol or otherwise occupied starside and wonder why the Traveler had chosen her. She would believe she was not worth the Light she was given.

Whatever she had done in her previous life surely did not give her that courtesy. How could she have thought otherwise?

Araeya was disappointed in herself for being so unprepared.

Disappointed for allowing all that followed to transpire.

Disappointed in herself for allowing Draksis to take hold of her.

Disappointed in herself for allowing Eminaaks to die on her watch, even after everything he had done.

The list of her disappointments could go on because the bar she had set herself was so high that her chances of missing were higher than she would ever want. It spanned for decades following every battle she’d ever faced – The Dark Below, The House of Wolves, The Taken King, the SIVA Crisis, The Red War, The Infinite Mind and a Hive God. But she couldn’t lower that bar. She _wanted_ it that high. She had people to impress; Cayde, Zavala, the Titans…Kallori…

How she disappointed herself in trying for Kallori. How Kallori must be disappointed in her for her lack of discipline, strength…

As she looked at her mind’s projection of Draksis, intimidating her from in front, standing over her chains, she realised that he was not the problem – it was everything he had revealed about her:

Disappointment.

She feared it.

_No. Just a bit longer…hang on just a bit…_

She feared it.

If her body allowed her, she would have lost her mind.

Araeya needed a way out.

She had one. The only problem was:

It was stuck in her side.

Meaning:

She would have to remove it and risk bleeding out in the act.

But she would not disappoint herself, for she was fighting with whatever she had left to give.

Araeya would not disappoint.


	18. So Close

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Twink and the Guardians are so close to getting Araeya back, but Araeya may have had a plan of her own that may have just forced the hand of the Cabal, increasing the danger of the operation

“They’re holding her in a cell block,” Twink announced with Cayde, Ikora and Tyrell on the comms listening in.

It took a lot of effort to free a very tired Skivay from the inevitable grasp of the Colossus, but with the Cabal commander now lifeless on the decks behind them, they could continue moving forward.

“It’s not too far away from here, so I want Aris, Skivay and Kallori to continue with me and the rest of you to stay back. I really need you guys to watch our backs on this one,” Twink continued.

Cayde nodded and looked at Ikora, yet she stood unimpressed.

“Hang on a sec, there, Twink…” Cayde paused the Ghost before he could continue his plan. “Ikora, you wanna say, now, why you look so disapproving?”

Ikora shook her head. “Cayde,” she began, unfolding her arms, “they are within reach of a Guardian known all over the universe – one sought after by many of the Cabal groups for the murder of their so-called ‘liberator.’ Do you not think that something is amiss that they are all in one piece and making headway so easily?”

Cayde was taken aback by Ikora’s question. If he thought it would get him anywhere, he could have laid into her, but he knew better than that. Instead he calmly made his point.

“Ikora, these guys are damn good at their job. I’ve seen Kallori alone practically _eat_ the Cabal. Has it never occurred to you that, maybe, they know what they’re doing and that’s why they are actually _successfully_ completing a task that might have an impact on Guardian future?” he paused to inhale before making his follow-up point. “These guys get back and they’ll have brought more than an important Guardian. They’ll have brought back important information…battle plans…proper loot, Ikora. We will know where Guardians MIA have gone. The strikes we can send forward to this place and everything we get back from them…” Cayde could have made a song and dance about it, because as much as Ikora would hate to admit it, he had his head screwed on correctly this time – he made all the right sounds.

She sighed in resignation. “Very well, Cayde. You’ve made your point. But, Guardians, you may be on the final stretch of this mission, do not forget to watch your backs. At this stage, anything could happen.”

And she was right for Araeya had collected her thoughts and planned her attack meticulously over the couple of hours she had before Twink would arrive with reinforcements.

She slowly shuffled over to the bars and tapped the Legionary’s leg and looked him in eyes weakly as he turned to her.

“Please,” she whispered faintly, “you were supposed to patch my wound hours ago. You have to help…”

The Legionary laughed. This one spoke English well.

“You must be joking, Earthling. Watching you die would be the highlight of my life.”

Araeya would not give in. “Maybe. But what would the Bracus do when he returned to see the Valus’ subject dead and useless?”

The Legionary promptly stopped smiling. Araeya had him right where she wanted him, so she continued.

“The Valus said he would have the Bracus’ head if I died on his watch and since you two were charged with watching me, the Bracus would have your heads first…” She did not need to continue as the Legionary got up off his ass and started to talk to the second.

<<She makes a point. We cannot let her die, or it’ll be our heads for the Bracus>>

The other Legionary jumped up immediately.

<<What must we do?>> he panicked.

<<Prepare to repair her wound. There’s nothing else we can do, but whatever we do, we can’t let her die>>

Both Legionaries agreed on their task as one of them unlocked the bars and knelt in front of Araeya and she slumped herself against the wall in a primed position to strike. She was holding the knife in her side, prepared for the pain she was about to put herself through.

The other Legionary dug out some bandages from the side room out of sight of what would happen.

As the Legionary placed his rifle down next to him and moved to remove the knife from Araeya’s side, she poised herself to strike.

She rapidly yanked the knife from her side and mustered all her strength to thrust it into the Legionary’s neck, sliding it in the gap of his helmet and breather, twisting it and turning it so that the Cabal oil gushed out from underneath.

She pushed her weight into the Legionary as his body became lifeless, pushing him to the floor, ready to use him as protection from the other.

Araeya had made one fatal mistake in her plan as she had no idea how much effort she would need to take down the first Legionary. To make matters worse, she had yanked the knife from her side in such a rush that she opened her wound further, causing more blood loss, making her lose her focus all the more.

As the second Legionary rushed in to attend the commotion, he wasted no time in readying his stance for Araeya, but in her blood-loss confusion, she couldn’t remove the knife from the helmet of the first Legionary and was easily floored with a simple slap.

As she hit the floor, she made no sound. She couldn’t. Too many thoughts and feelings fought for priority in her head as she frantically tried to find her bearings.

As she tried to sit up, the Legionary pushed her back down with his foot and leaned down on her, crushing her ribs beneath his boot.

<<Foul being. You should think yourself lucky that I can’t kill you. That was my brother you just murdered, but I shall have my revenge through the Bracus when he hears of this. Do you understand?>>

Araeya did not understand. She couldn’t hear anything but the sound of her own body crunching beneath the weight of the Cabal Legionary. She didn’t have the strength to attempt to try and pry him off her – she just laid there, life draining from her body.

Eventually the Legionary gave way and released his foot from Araeya, but not without knocking her out cold and bandaging her wound.

He rushed out of the cell block and called for the Bracus, but he was gone for long enough.


	19. So Far

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Twink and the team reunited with Araeya alive was just the boost they needed until mixed signals fill the air between Araeya and Kallori. Those mixed signals are all they can think about when the Bracus returns and makes a play that forces Araeya's fate, shocking everyone close to her into a standstill

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So it would seem that this chapter is a wee bit longer than the rest...

Sneaking past every corner, hallway and up the stairs, Kallori, Aris, Skivay and Twink slowly made way closer and closer to Araeya and Skivay had suddenly become unusually nervous. While she would commonly become worried for something or someone, Skivay rarely became nervous about anything.

“Something doesn’t feel right. Ikora’s right – this is too easy…”

Cayde looked at Ikora on the other end of the comms.

“You’ve gotten into their heads, now,” he whispered.

“Rightfully so, Cayde,” Ikora whispered in return.

“Not helping, Cayde,” Kallori responded. She turned to Skivay. “If you’re that worried, perhaps you could wait at the door and let us know of any movements outside?”

Skivay nodded. “Good idea. I can do that,” and she sat behind an armoury crate at the top of the stairs to the cell block, watching below as Aris and Kallori followed Twink into to block, cautious as to what security would be on the other side.

To their surprise, there was no one there. Twink scanned the room and confirmed that there were no enemies within range of the cell block.

“Something really isn’t right…” Aris said, poised to strike just in case. “I’ll wait here – I have a full view of the room from here.”

Kallori agreed and Twink pointed her in the direction of Araeya’s cell.

She tiptoed round the corner, careful of any traps and knelt at the bars, frantically looking around for Araeya. She couldn’t see her – only the dead Legionary laid in the cell.

“Twink, are you sure this is the right one? I don’t see her…” Kallori’s voice broke.

“Yes, she’s in here…somewhere…” Twink was the last one who should lose hope on finding his Guardian. He made a promise when he first revived her all those decades ago on Enceladus that he would never part with her. He had revived a true Guardian hero to have survived all of her ordeals and triumph over god after god, threat after threat. He couldn’t let her go now…

After a while of nothingness, Kallori began to weep silently to herself. They had come all this way and seen her placed just out of their reach time after time and here they were, even further out of reach.

Cayde looked at Tyrell back in the Hangar. By this time, Aunor had joined them and all four of them had drooped in posture. They, too, felt the despair of Kallori and the team.

Just out of the corner of Kallori’s eyes, a blue pair of hands, chained together, emerged from the wall to her side. Araeya had been thrown against the wall when the Legionary knocked her out and so, even with Kallori stretching her head around the cell block, she would always have been just out of view.

It made Kallori jump and she pressed herself against the bars, gripping them tighter as she became breathless with relief.

Araeya had come around shortly after they arrived, and she slowly dragged herself across the floor to sit in front of Kallori, weary from the Legionaries before them. The restraints wouldn’t allow her to get too close to the bars as before, but it was close enough for Kallori.

“You’re…alive!” she exclaimed, still breathless. They had found their missing Guardian still in one piece.

On the other end of the comms, Aunor and Ikora breathed a sigh of relief and Tyrell sat on the floor exasperated. Cayde placed his hands on the back of his head and threw it back, pacing up and down the Hangar once more. Araeya was still alive. They could only ask that she stayed that way for a little longer while they prepared an exfiltration plan to get them all out in one piece and send a strike force in as soon as possible to eliminate the possibility of this happening again – to take the Valus out as they had intended from the start.

“I’m fine,” Araeya said, faintly, sitting up to face Kallori. “You have no idea how much I worried for you, knowing that you were here all this time…”

“Just shut up for a moment,” Kallori demanded, before reaching through the bars to hold Araeya’s face gently in her hands, feeling her skin slightly bruised beneath the palm of her hand. Araeya held Kallori’s wrists with her chain hands, trying to feel something that differed from the pain she’d been in for so long.

Kallori pulled Araeya into her and kissed her – something so very long overdue. Araeya’s wrists were pulled towards the centre of the room where she was held, but she hadn’t even noticed for the reason she was there was making things right.

Tears began streaming down their faces and Twink gave them a moment of privacy before he would bring forth his plan to get them out.

Kallori thought she could hear either Ikora or Aunor on the other end of the comms telling her to focus. She was – just not on what they wanted her to focus on.

Kallori’s skin was so soft beneath Araeya. It was the softest thing she’d felt in such a long time, and oh, how she missed it. How did it come to this?

“Kal…” Araeya began, thinking of how to start a fresh conversation following the previous day.

“No. Don’t. Let me explain,” Kallori interrupted, looking Araeya in her golden eyes. “You said those…those three little words and I panicked. I didn’t know what you wanted from me. I didn’t know what you expected of me. I’d spent so long keeping my reputation as untouchable that suddenly you were the only one who could get to me, and something inside me snapped and my back went up and began overthinking. What would people think of me? What of my reputation? Why me? Am I ready for this, is it for me? My mind had a thousand questions – so much so fast – and instead of taking time to take it all in, I resulted to my old instinct of pushing the problem away and running from it, forgetting how it would leave you. I almost doubted your commitment to me, almost as if I thought you were trying to trick me – to catch me off-guard…” Kallori realised what she was saying and how stupid she must have sounded, but Araeya sat there unphased.

In fact, she could have laughed, had her knife wound not been so deep.

Silence rang through the air and Kallori wasn’t sure if she’d said the right thing – if she’d lost Araeya for good, just as she had every moment of their search for her.

Eventually, Araeya opened her mouth to speak.

“Kal,” she began. She had Kallori’s full attention, but kept the suspense hanging around for a moment. “…I love you…”

Those three little words that started all this would be the very three little words that would bring and end to it all. The only difference would be that they would have to come from the other side to bring this pain to an end.

Kallori sat back and looked away. Araeya did the same, believing that she had ended what she started, only in a way she had tried so hard to avoid.

“I…love you, too,” came the broken response in the end, but it wouldn’t be where they were sat in the cell block. It wouldn’t be on the flight back to the Tower and it wouldn’t be the following day. It came at a time that was right when Araeya needed to hear it the most.

In the now, Twink had materialised on Araeya’s body and healed the knife wound enough to stop the Cabal becoming suspicious – Araeya would have the Light to help her from now. He needed the Bracus and the Valus to take her to one more trial before they could take their leave and they didn’t have long to coordinate it, for Skivay and Aris appeared around the corner, first glad to see Araeya still alive.

“We’re glad you’re all still here to hear this, but the Bracus is followed by a Legionary and they are on their way up here,” Skivay said panicked.

Kallori picked herself off the floor, not even looking at Araeya as she pleaded with her eyes for her favourite Warlock to break down her walls. “Then we are going to need to be quick. We can’t get her out here so we will hang back and observe until the time is right. We won’t lose her, here,” she said assertively.

They didn’t have any time to hide far, so they ran to the back of the room, amongst the crates and gear boxes, hidden in Aris’ smoke bomb as they watched Bracus Ma’auor enter with his pet Legionary.

He was in no mood for any mercy.

Without a break in his stride, Ma’auor marched right around the corner, unlocked the cell door by which Araeya had stood up, and immediately grabbed her by the neck and lifted her in the air.

“You must think you are so smart, weakling, picking on my Legionaries like that, huh?” he spat in her face.

He pulled her in so that she was inches away from his face and he lowered his tone.

“You have forced the Valus’ hand, much to his disappointment. He has been left with no choice but to push the next trial forward and increase its difficulty for you…”

Without hesitation, he threw Araeya against the wall, unlocked the chains to the middle the floor and dragged her out of the cell without giving her a chance to get up again.

The team at the back of the room fought against Kallori to stop her from losing her shit and charging at the Bracus, holding her back with all their might.

Araeya didn’t even fight as she was dragged from the cell block. She knew what was coming.

Just as the Bracus had closed the door behind him, he paused at the top of the stairs and the team on the other side of the door, Rexus, Yarus and Tamitt on the decks below, also watching Ma’auor’s movements.

He looked at Araeya with a gaze so intense that it slowly ate her, and she couldn’t look at him in return. He knew something was different about her this time round. She seemed…stronger.

Ma’auor pulled her up and removed the bandages from her knife wound. It was still a wound, exactly as Twink had said he’d do. Without warning, the Bracus reached into her wound, causing Araeya to throw up in pain. As he pulled his hand back out, he examined it closely, dropping Araeya to the floor again.

“You think you can fool me, don’t you?” he began, at first not acknowledging Araeya’s position. Then he turned his head sharply and shot a stare so powerful at Araeya that she immediately gave him her attention and ceased all actions.

“HAND OUT NOW!” He demanded. Kallori and Aris knew exactly what he was doing despite not being able to see. Tamitt could see the Bracus lose his temper from the decks below and went pale with anticipation – he, too, knew what he was after.

As Araeya tentatively held out her hand, Twink’s shell materialised before the Bracus and the shock that emanated from his face could be felt throughout the base as he took the shell from her palm and held it between his fingers.

“Pathetic little fool, thinking I wouldn’t notice. If you hadn’t already, you have most certainly cemented your fate, here, Hunter,” he said lowly as he squeezed his fingers together, crushing the Ghost beneath his fingertips.

Light shot out from the broken shell like nuclear force, knocking everything over as it travelled through the base. On the decks below, Tamitt sat in shock with Rexus and Yarus at the realisation of what just happened.

Behind the cell block door, Skivay sat also in shock – the plan had fallen to little pieces like Twink’s shell and she questioned how they would get everyone out.

Aris threw her head back in anger and begun pacing the cell block frantically thinking of a way to fix things, knowing full well that there was nothing that could be done short of a miracle.

But, without question, the one most affected was Kallori. The rush of Araeya’s Light as it slapped her around her face caused her to question everything as she collapsed to her knees.

“No…” she whispered. She begun shaking. The anger built up inside of her had reached critical and she couldn’t hold it in anymore. Kallori screamed so loud that she could be heard all over the base. What was she supposed to do?

How she thought of ripping out the very heart that sat in Bracus Ma’auor’s chest and squeezing that in the palm of her hands as he sat and watched in the very same way he had made Araeya sit and watch her life destroyed in front of her. Once she was done, she would force Chaos Reach through the hole in his chest until there was nothing left of him.

Aris and Skivay fought to stop her from bursting through the door and jeopardising Araeya’s survival further, only this time, it was taking Aris’ tether and Skivay’s suppressor grenade and both their strengths to hold her down.

As the Bracus brushed his hands of Twink’s shell, Araeya felt nothing. She was a hollow shell of her former self. She had accepted her fate and begun feeling nothing in preparation for the Valus’ next trial. She was an empty robot as she followed the Bracus back to the Valus’ observatory as he chuckled to himself.

“That’ll stop your scheming ways. Now I shall sit with the Valus and watch as the life drains from your eyes, and, oh boy, I shall enjoy. Every. Second. Of it, don’t you worry.”

What no one could see was Cayde back at the Hangar begin prepping his ship, fighting Ikora and Aunor as they tried to stop him from going after them, all of them having understood exactly what had just happened and knowing just how desperate and how tense situations were on the base.


	20. Plans at Play

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The team have one last shot at getting Araeya back but they are on their own as Cayde has abandoned his post in the Hangar. Araeya makes a deal with the Valus that pleases the Bracus but this pushes the team to have to work faster to save her life

“Rendezvous on the lower decks this instant,” Skivay commanded as her and Aris dragged a dangerously tense Warlock down the steps not too far behind the Bracus.

“What are we supposed to do, now? Araeya is only moments from an RTL final death and we have no plan and no real force to play against them right now." Yarus was more than worried. 

Their comms crackled to life once more. Ikora.

“Fireteam, we are going radio silent from here on in. We need to make suitable preparations and Tyrell will be helping, so no-one will be here to guide you. I’m sorry.”

“No, Ikora. We need you now, more than ever – we don’t know what to do…” Yarus admitted.

“I understand. We have failed in one matter, however…” she paused.

Aris and Skivay looked between each other, nervously.

“…and what would that be?”

Aunor cleared her throat. “A Vanguard has left their post. Um…Cayde is on his way…”

“What?” Kallori stood up straight, her attention all on Aunor as she continued.

“Cayde is on his way. We couldn’t talk sense into him, but he won’t get there in time to help you. If you act now in the most effective way, you can come away from this just as he gets there to help you evacuate, but you must prepare yourselves for a failed raid, for once he gets there, one of three things will happen: you will come away with one Lightless Hunter, you will come away with Araeya’s body or you will come away with nothing.”

The seriousness of the situation was slowly setting into the fireteam as they huddled over one comm unit as it disconnected for the last time while they were out there sat in the astral dust of the asteroid field. It really all came down to this.

Rexus had been quiet since they had all reconvened as a team. Neither Yarus nor Tamitt could get anything out of him and it worried them.

“We’re on our own now. I say anything goes from here and we get her back by force,” Yarus said bluntly. He turned to Kallori still seething with fury. “This is the Kallori I know – nothing gets in her way without facing her wrath one way or another,” he whispered in her ear, but he wasn’t ready for her to turn to him and stare daggers into his eyes.

“Whatever we do, first things first, we need to know where Ma’auor took her and then we need to do a quick assessment from there,” Aris said looking at her Ghost’s map of the base. There was a small glitch in the map, however; it still showed Twink’s energy signature amongst them. Maybe it was when his Light washed over them all.

But surely that would mean his signature would be all over?

They couldn’t afford the time to ponder such thoughts as they needed to get to Araeya before the Valus could start his next trial. As far as the idea went, the plan would still work. The only problem was that they had even less time to work with and there was twice as much at stake.

In Ja’aun’s observatory, Ma’auor had arrived with Araeya in tow. Ja’aun looked upon the empty Hunter and cocked his head, confused. He turned to the Bracus.

<<Ma’auor, dearest, what has happened to the champion?>>

<<Merely a plan busted in action, sire>> he replied, pleased with himself.

<<The little Light…>>

<<Yes>>

<<Such a shame it had to end this way. I had so much more to explore>> Ja’aun stepped towards Araeya as stared at her closer, watching her lifeless eyes as she refused to acknowledge his gaze. She always knew her fate would meet her halfway eventually and she made her point when Ma’auor stabbed her. She just didn’t expect to go down this way.

“My dear Araeya. You do not look so chirpy…”

Araeya said nothing.

“Hm,” the Valus continued. “Is there any way I can cheer you up before your trial? You shall need your energy for this one.”

Still, Araeya said nothing.

This stumped the Valus. He liked Araeya and he was disappointed by the turn of events.

Just as he turned to return to his chair in his observatory, Araeya looked up from the floor and cleared her throat, stopping Ja’aun in his tracks.

“There is something you can do,” she said nervously. This got his attention.

“Oh yeah?”

“Spare me the effort of completing your trial.” This piqued the Valus’ interests and he stood curious at what the Hunter was asking for.

“Would you care to elaborate, for surely, you have an idea in mind?”

“I was destined to die eventually. It seems that your trial, here would be my end, however, while I don’t deserve to ask for an end that I would prefer, I don’t want to go out having failed one of your trials, and so I’d like to ask if you shall kill me in your preferred way?” Araeya was certain she had no escape from what was about to happen and thought she’d try her chances with the Valus.

Bracus Ma’auor scoffed and folded his arms while Ja’aun pondered what he had just been asked. On one hand, he wanted Araeya to take his trial to see how long she would last. But on the other hand, if she was adamant that she would not make an effort, the trial would be worthless and a waste of time and resources.

He would reconsider.

“Dear Araeya, I like you. You have the mind of a Guardian like none that I have seen and, I must say, I am impressed by your valiant attempts to survive. Therefore, I have decided that my trial is no longer worthy of you and you shall instead die by the hand I choose. It is a shame, child.”

The Bracus jumped at the opportunity that had just presented itself. <<Valus, kindly allow me to prove my loyalty to you by bestowing upon this Guardian her wish in your ways>>

Ja’aun thought for a moment before shrugging his shoulders and turning back to his chair.

<<Very well, dearest Ma’auor. If you so wish>> Ja’aun changed language and sat to face Araeya. “You shall die at the hands of my honoured Bracus in whichever method he deems best fit.”

Araeya responded with nothing but a soft nod as the Bracus began his plan and ordered Phalanxes to escort Araeya to the Colosseum for her last stand.

The team had been sat outside the observatory for the duration of the meeting with the Bracus and the Valus and they were stunned by the outcome, but they now knew what to expect and could better prepare themselves. They immediately made their way up to the courtyard and mounted vantage points to assess the situation.

“I might have an idea that could work in just about any situation…” Skivay began, slightly more light-hearted than before. “But we’re going to need to find places where we can hide in twos.”


	21. Not So Little Anymore

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With the team primed for Araeya's last stand, Rexus has one more surprise in store, Kallori says what she's been meaning to say for days and help arrives just in time, but not in the form they were expecting

It wasn’t long before Araeya was escorted onto the courtyard, hands tied behind her back and pushed into the middle of the yard for the last time.

Once again, the astral dust swirled around her, lifting and waving her cloak about as she knelt herself down on the floor as the Bracus had wanted. She wasn’t worried about what was about to happen, but it wasn’t because she knew her friends were nearby. No. she had lost faith in their strength as she had done her own.

Instead, she knew she was ready. It wasn’t exactly how she’d want to go out, but it was better than being her usual disappointment and failing at something. She had done well for herself.

She could go out knowing that she had done her part for the Traveler. Every threat thrown at the Guardians she had dealt with. Even her own personal threats.

And no matter how bleak it seemed, Araeya had gotten her hands on the Warlock she’d been chasing for years.

Araeya smiled.

Bracus Ma’auor placed himself in front of Araeya, knife in one hand, gun in the other.

“This won’t be quick, Hunter. I will make the most of it.”

Ma’auor waited the signal from the Valus before he would commence his work.

Up in the rafters above Araeya sat Skivay and Tamitt. Behind the Colosseum walls to Araeya’s left laid Aris and Yarus. Rexus sat behind Araeya by the lift that she had been brought up in and Kallori stood out of the line of sight of the Valus by the Colosseum doors. The team had a plan. How well it would work, they could only wait to find out, but they had to pick their moment very carefully.

To Araeya’s surprise, Valus Ja’aun didn’t have a speech before Ma’auor began. She looked across to where the Valus sat and saw that he did in fact look upset. She knew he had no intention to keep her alive for long, but his plans had been scuppered and that hurt him more than anyone realised.

Instead, he allowed a weak signal and the Bracus stepped forward.

“Pay attention, guys,” Skivay reminded the team.

“I don’t know where to start, you know…” Ma’auor said as he looked between his knife and his gun. “What do you think I should do?” he asked Araeya.

She didn’t answer. Whatever she suggested, he wouldn’t have listened, so it didn’t matter.

“I agree,” he said sarcastically, and immediately shot her shoulder. The lack of reaction that Araeya gave the Bracus shocked Kallori into action.

Araeya noticed and turned to look at where Kallori was stood, her hair blowing in the astral wind and her face depicting utter shock and disbelief. Araeya’s face was blank as she looked Kallori in the eyes and the Bracus stabbed her in the leg.

Still no reaction.

This angered Ma’auor. He grabbed Araeya by the chin to turn her head to stare at his face.

“I want to see life drain from your eyes as pain seethes through every bone in your pathetic little body. You will not take this moment away from me, do you understand?” he hissed.

He walked around to her back and laid the knife against her throat. Araeya let a little panic escape as her breathing became faster. Ma’auor smiled.

“That’s more like it,” he whispered in her ear as he slit her throat and walked back around to face her.

Kallori couldn’t hold back anymore.

“I love you, too!” she yelled at the top of her lungs, but with the wind blowing all around them, Araeya couldn’t hear.

“I…love you, too…” Kallori had lost her energy and only managed a broken voice.

“Skivay, how much longer?” Tamitt panicked.

“Just a little more…”

“Skivay I call now…” Yarus was nervous.

“Not yet…”

“Skivay? Now?”

“Not yet!”

Bracus Ma’auor pointed the gun at Araeya’s stomach right where her knife wound sat.

“Skivay?”

“Now?”

The team began panicking that they were running out of time.

“Rexus!” Skivay shouted as she noticed him wandering out onto the courtyard. “What are you doing?!”

He paused, but still he said nothing as he held out his hand and allowed a Ghost to materialise – but it wasn’t his.

The Ghost plodded over to Araeya, keeping hidden behind her back.

“NOW!” Skivay shouted as she dived down from the rafters and landed in front of Araeya, encasing them all in a Ward of Dawn. As the Bracus stumbled back from being blinded, Tamitt cast Thundercrash onto him, stunning him further, allowing Aris to jump over the wall and hit him with a Tether while Yarus ran in to help Araeya.

None of them were able to finish what they started with the Ghost leaving them in shock – it was Twink. Confused was the understatement and it nearly cost them the whole operation as the Bracus had found his bearings and begun pounding on the Ward.

Kallori was about to step in when she was pushed aside by someone else.

Without a chance to look, a Golden Gun was fired directly at the Bracus, all three shots in his body as he collapsed in a 400lbs heap on the floor in front of the team.

Cayde stood just in front of Kallori with an exasperated look on his face as he looked at Araeya in a mess.

“I can’t help her here, we need to leave,” Twink alerted the others.

“Guys, that Valus doesn’t look too happy with us right now, so might I suggest we leave?” Cayde said beckoning the fireteam towards him.

As they began running in his direction, Araeya collapsed from her injuries and Tamitt stopped to pick her up. He couldn’t do it on his own, so he called for backup, but only Rexus heard him and he ran back to help. They were really far behind the rest of the team as the Valus ordered his army to follow them and begun chasing them himself.

As the fireteam reached the landing pads, exhausted from running, they didn’t have a lot of time to think as they all boarded their ships and made a break for it heading straight for the Tower. Cayde stopped back to count them all in, and noticed Rexus and Tamitt were straggling.

He ran over to them and picked Araeya up himself.

“I’ll take her back in my ship. You two go on ahead, I’ll see you back at the Tower.”

Rexus and Tamitt nodded and ran on ahead.

Cayde wasn’t quite finished.

“Twink, I need her in one piece now. I can’t help her in my ship, it won’t be safe.”

“But, Cayde, the army…”

“Now Ghost please for the love of-”

“Okay, okay.”

With a single burst of Light, Twink healed Araeya enough to stop her bleeding out, but he didn’t have time to repair her body fully. Cayde cradled her in his arms as he boarded his ship, barely making it out without a scratch.

“Is she going to be okay, Cayde?” Aris asked once they’d made it far enough away from the base.

Cayde looked over his shoulder to see Araeya conscious enough to know where she was, but not well enough to stand, yet – Twink was working on that.

“I think so. You did good, fireteam.”

“Rexus, you have some explaining to do,” Tamitt began, but Rexus merely chuckled to himself.

“I told you I can help. I can keep secrets,” he said, still laughing. Twink sighed.

“I’ll explain,” he began, and the others awaited eagerly. “See, with the Colossus chasing Skivay, he knew there had to be a reason for it and he quickly found out that you guys broke me out. But, I’ll admit they caught me off-guard when they didn’t just send someone out straight for me. While we were in the holding cells, I needed to help Araeya last a bit longer so I patched her wounds without making it look too obvious, so while her and Kallori kissed, I poured a bit of Light into an empty shell I was holding onto – just enough that when forced, it would explode. I knew the Bracus could work out a Light connection. Araeya didn’t know it wasn’t me at the time, but I would suspect that she worked it out soon afterwards when she didn’t feel the same disconnection as when Ghaul attacked. I had told Rexus the plan when we were walking to the holding cells and it seems that all it takes is the promise of doughnuts and you can keep him quiet for days, but I needed the reactions from all of you to have the Cabal believe it, too.”

Silence filled the comm network, broken only by a wry chuckle from Cayde.

“Well, it seems Guardian and Ghost matchmade in heaven, then, jeez.”

Kallori didn’t say a word the whole way back and it wasn’t until Cayde had Araeya walk off his ship did she indicate that she was alright. She waited at the bottom of the Queen of Hearts’ exit ramp for Araeya as Cayde walked by her.

“I think you know what to do…” he whispered.

Araeya limped down from the ship, still clutching at her side, black and blue, but alright, and Kallori watched in awe at how strong she was. Araeya stopped just in front of her and smiled.

“We’ll be talking about this one for a while, huh,” she said dryly, smiling regardless. Kallori said nothing and instead walked into kiss her, tenderly cupping Araeya’s face in her hands.

“You didn’t listen,” she said bluntly, Araeya staring at her confused.

Kallori laughed.

“I love you, too, you big dumbass.”

Araeya laughed.

This was far from over as the whole ordeal needed to be filed with the Vanguard and everyone needed checking over – Araeya especially – and Cayde probably had some answering to do to Aunor, but for now, they await their chance to strike back at the Valus, for revenge is best served when they know what they’re doing.

Three little words can go much further than anyone realises.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well. 51 pages, 3 months and many sidetracks later this one is finally done XD
> 
> It started as a simple idea to further forge my OCs relationship and the next thing I know I got a bit carried away, but, hey, nothing like some crazy-ass rescue mission to make a love story XD


End file.
